But few unions flex political muscle like the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, the hospitality workers union in Las Vegas and long one of the state’s most powerful political forces. To that end, Sisolak was a key Culinary ally in 2021, backing a “Right to Return” bill allowing hospitality workers the right to return to jobs they lost during the pandemic.
The union later praised Sisolak for the move during the 2022 midterms, and in an interview last month, union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge — who directly credited Sisolak for the Right to Return bill on the campaign trail — called Sisolak’s exit “a tremendous loss.”
“He was a true champion of the working class families in Nevada, we believe, and that's a big loss,” Pappageorge said.