Delegates, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Secretary of State, Distinguished Members of the Legislature, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Officers, Honored Guests, but most importantly, my fellow Nevadans.

I’d like to a take a moment to express my deep gratitude and humility that I’ve felt not just since last night’s election, but the entire duration of my campaign. The support I received on both sides of the political isle was overwhelming. There was sincere interest in my policies and me as a person. It take courage to show compassion in the face of adversity, and I can’t thank all of you enough. While I hold the powerful position of governor, the unity that you all showed in the election is truly illustrative of the power of not one individual, but the collective force of a unified group of likeminded individuals. Regardless of party, you’ve all proven to me and each other that the Nevada Boy’s State Delegation is the premier gathering of the future leaders of our state.

I’d like to thank Woodrow Orris for running an excellent campaign. I think we can all agree that we would have been served incredibly well with him as governor.

It’s incredibly clear and evident that the country has been divided in half by a partisan breach. As governor, it is my goal to protect our state from that partisan divide. We don’t need stalemated arguments. We need reform, we need compassion, we need kindness to protect our state, but most importantly, we need progress. At the heart of all political advancement is progress.

The question the legislative body is faced here today is where to start. Aristotle once said that the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. And indeed the roots have been quite bitter to the state of Nevada. I don’t think I need to repeat the numbers. If there is anywhere for us to improve, its our schools. I’m proud to say that the mayors of our beloved cities and I will be hosting a productive negotiations session today strictly on the topic of education and I’m even more proud to say that I’m certain our legislative body will stop at nothing to pass productive legislation today in order for our state to harvest those fruit that Aristotle once talked about. Let us not think about our parties today when we discuss education, let us not think about our personal incentives, but rather I urge all of our legislators and mayors to consider but one thing today on the topic of education: the students. They are the fruit of education, the fruit that we have failed to nurture. Let us no longer fail the next generation of Nevadans.

There comes a time where every person must recognize a very clear and present truth in today’s world: we are destroying the environment. In a time where the president of the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, one of the most substantive international agreements on environmental protection, we must turn to our own personal responsibility in the name of our precise environment and create our own regulations that follow closely with the international standards. In our beloved state song, we sing of the sage and the pine, the spotted fawn and doe, and the desert grey. I fear a day in which we no longer have such, where our state song is nothing but a memory of the past Nevada. As governor, I promise to accomplish comprehensive expansion of solar power in the state of Nevada, which, as Im proud to say, is already a front runner in natural gas and hydroelectric power.

Let us not stop at the education and the environment, let us resolve to turn no blind eyes to the issues of rural healthcare, gun reform, or whatever else may come to plague our great state.

The day has finally come. It’s been a very long week, but it has all come down this moment. I spoke in my campaign speech that political science is no science at all, but rather, a passion, an art. With that being said, you delegates are the artists. You are the Michael Angelos, and Da Vincis, the Van Goghs and the Picassos. And I can’t wait to see what masterpiece you paint today and for years to come