Zach Conine - Ballotpedia

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Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

5

Zach Conine (Democratic Party) is the Nevada State Treasurer. He assumed office on January 7, 2019. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.

Conine (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Nevada State Treasurer. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Conine was a 2016 Democratic candidate for District 34 of the Nevada State Assembly.

Biography

Prior to holding political office, Conine had a career in both the hospitality and finance industries. He opened and managed dozens of restaurants and casino resorts, and started a consulting business that worked with private and public investment firms.^[1]^[2]

Conine was born October 20, 1981. He grew up in upstate New York and received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. He moved to Nevada following graduation from Cornell, and later obtained a law degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He and his wife, Layke, have a daughter and two sons.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Political career

Nevada Treasurer (2019-present)

Conine was elected Nevada treasurer on November 6, 2018. He assumed office on January 7, 2019.

Elections

2022

See also: Nevada Treasurer election, 2022

General election

General election for Nevada State Treasurer

Incumbent Zach Conine defeated Michele Fiore, Margaret Hendrickson, and Bryan Elliott in the general election for Nevada State Treasurer on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Conine (D)	47.7	482,762
		Michele Fiore (R)	46.0	465,570
		Margaret Hendrickson (Independent American Party)	1.9	19,588
		Bryan Elliott (L)	1.6	16,051
		Other/Write-in votes	2.8	28,058

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,012,029
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Zach Conine advanced from the Democratic primary for Nevada State Treasurer.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Nevada State Treasurer

Michele Fiore defeated Manny Kess in the Republican primary for Nevada State Treasurer on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michele Fiore	61.1	134,184
		Manny Kess	29.6	65,048
		Other/Write-in votes	9.3	20,370

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 219,602
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2018

See also: Nevada Treasurer election, 2018

General election

General election for Nevada State Treasurer

Zach Conine defeated Bob Beers and Bill Hoge in the general election for Nevada State Treasurer on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zach Conine (D)	47.7	459,874
		Bob Beers (R)	47.1	453,748
		Bill Hoge (Independent American Party)	2.4	23,146
		Other/Write-in votes	2.8	27,431

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 964,199
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Nevada State Treasurer

Zach Conine advanced from the Democratic primary for Nevada State Treasurer on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Zach Conine

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Nevada State Treasurer

Bob Beers defeated Derek Uehara in the Republican primary for Nevada State Treasurer on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bob Beers	73.9	91,570
		Derek Uehara	26.1	32,412

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 123,982
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2016

See also: Nevada State Assembly elections, 2016

Elections for the Nevada State Assembly took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016. Incumbent Victoria Seaman (R) did not seek re-election.

Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod defeated Matt Williams in the Nevada State Assembly District 34 general election.^[6]^[7]

Nevada State Assembly, District 34 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod	58.61%	14,788
	Republican	Matt Williams	41.39%	10,444
Total Votes				25,232
Source: Nevada Secretary of State

Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod defeated Zach Conine and Manny Garcia in the Nevada State Assembly District 34 Democratic primary.^[8]^[9]

Nevada State Assembly District 34, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod	39.74%	1,199
	Democratic	Zach Conine	37.32%	1,126
	Democratic	Manny Garcia	22.94%	692
Total Votes				3,017

Matt Williams defeated Marty Hagans and David LaBay in the Nevada State Assembly District 34 Republican primary.^[8]^[9]

Nevada State Assembly District 34, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Matt Williams	38.36%	720
	Republican	Marty Hagans	37.99%	713
	Republican	David LaBay	23.65%	444
Total Votes				1,877

Issues

ESG

See also: Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), State financial officer stances on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)

Environmental, social, and corporate governance


Select a topic from the dropdown below to learn more.

As treasurer, Conine took stances supporting Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), an approach to investing and corporate decision-making.

State financial officers, including treasurers, auditors, and controllers, are responsible for auditing other government offices, managing payroll, and overseeing pensions. In some states, certain SFOs are also responsible for investing state retirement and trust funds.

Criticism of Texas anti-ESG policy (December 2022)

In a December 2022 interview published in The Bond Buyer, Conine criticized the state of Texas for divesting from banks and financial firms with ESG policies, but supported the state’s right to make such decisions.

“Look at Texas, and the studies that have been done on the additional cost of issuance, because they banned underwriters based on their positions on ESG,” said Conine in the interview. “That is costing Texas billions of dollars on spreads on issuance. It was a bad fiduciary decision, but it is in the universe of decisions a treasurer can make.”^[10]

According to Bloomberg, a 2021 Texas state law “requires public pensions to divest from financial companies that have been labeled as 'boycotting' fossil fuels.”^[11]

An analysis prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center says the law “prohibits Texas state agencies that invest funds from investing in financial companies that boycott energy companies” and “requires the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas (comptroller) to prepare and maintain a list of all financial companies that refuse to deal with, terminate business activities with, or otherwise take any action that is, solely or primarily, intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a financial company because the company engages in the exploration, production, utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of fossil fuel-based energy and does not commit or pledge to meet environmental standards beyond applicable federal and state law.”^[12]

“If it is a value within the state, then they should represent it, but from a fiduciary perspective, and how much it is costing the state, I don’t think it’s a good position to take,” said Conine, of the Texas law. “We divested from firearms because we thought it was a risky investment, but I also want to live in a state with less gun violence, and one way to do that is to not invest in gun manufacturing. Divesting from a liability is recognizing a market force. Banning companies from working in your state is a political choice, not a market decision. It was their choice. I just wouldn’t have done the same.”^[13]

Pro-ESG financial officers’ letter opposing anti-ESG state officers (September 2022)

In September 2022, Conine and 13 other state and local financial officers co-signed a letter opposing the actions of states that had passed “legislation aiming to curb consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investing.” The letter asserted that “states in our country have started blacklisting financial firms that don’t agree with their political views,” and cited in particular “West Virginia, Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida” for “using blacklists to obstruct the free market.”^[14]

According to a September 2022 report from Financial Technologies Forum, Republican elected officials in 24 states had enacted policies against investing public funds with asset management firms such as BlackRock that had used ESG criteria as a basis for investment decisions.^[15]

Conine and the signatories alleged the following about the anti-ESG legislation: “The blacklisting states apparently believe, despite ample evidence and scientific consensus to the contrary, that poor working conditions, unfair compensation, discrimination and harassment, and even poor governance practices do not represent material threats to the companies in which they invest. They refuse to acknowledge, in the face of sweltering heat, floods, tornadoes, snowstorms and other extreme weather, that climate change is real and is a true business threat to all of us.”^[14]

Nevada divestment from firearms investments (June 2022)

In June 2022, Conine issued a news release announcing he would divest the state “investment portfolio from companies that manufacture or sell assault-style weapons.”^[16]

“As Nevada’s chief investment officer, I have a responsibility to ensure Nevada’s tax dollars are invested with minimal exposure to risk,” said Conine, according to the news release. “Companies that profit on the manufacture and sale of assault-style weapons present a market risk I’m not willing to take. Investments are fundamentally a plan for the future, and it's time Nevada started investing in a better future where our children aren't slaughtered in classrooms.”^[17]

An initial review by the Nevada Treasurer’s Office identified $89 million in investments in firms the staff believed would be subject to the divestment policy. ^[18]

The news release and media reports did not stipulate how Conine’s policy had differentiated “assault weapons” and “assault-style weapons” from other firearms commonly and legally owned by American citizens. In one example, a December 2022 report in The Bond Buyer claimed Conine had divested the state “from automatic weapons and gun manufacturers.” Automatic weapons have been tightly regulated, heavily taxed, and as a general rule not legally possessed by most law-abiding Americans since passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934.^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]

“Today, I directed our team to divest the State of Nevada from any investment in a business that profits from the sale or manufacture of assault-style weapons,” said Conine in a social media post announcing his divestment policy. “No one policy or law will fix this crisis, but we all must do something.”^[24]

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Zach Conine did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Conine's website highlighted the following campaign themes:^[25]

Economic Growth and Diversification

Excerpt: "Nevada must find new industries to join hospitality/gaming/tourism, real estate and mining as drivers of our economy. Nevada’s economy could be described as a two-legged stool, vulnerable to a strong breeze."

Educational Opportunity

Excerpt: "A strong education is the backbone of a strong community. We need to laser focus on increasing the graduation rate, expanding post high-school offerings and making sure our kids have the resources they need for success."

Social Justice

Excerpt: "Opportunity restored is opportunity created. We must look for solutions that will allow all of us to not just survive, but thrive."

Environmental Sustainability

Excerpt: "Nevada has taken strides over the past decade to ensure that our state transitions from a fossil-fuel based economy to one more balanced with clean energy and more efficient buildings. We must continue to work towards smart policies that take advantage of our ingenuity and open markets, including the expansion and deployment of rooftop solar, home energy and water efficiency, and electric vehicle infrastructure."

Public Lands

Excerpt: "Our public lands are an important part of our heritage in Nevada and we must ensure that our lands are protected by keeping them public. Our state should not be advocating for land to be transferred from federal to state control, but instead work in concert with federal and local authorities, and the business community, to create new outdoor businesses and opportunities for tourism."

See also

External links

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Candidate

Nevada State Treasurer

Officeholder

Nevada State Treasurer

Personal

Footnotes

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