Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Democratic hopefuls for Congress make final push
Democrats hit the streets, shore up support as primary looms
Three Democratic hopefuls seeking the 4th District seat in Congress began their final weekend push Saturday to woo voters before Tuesday’s primary election.
The three — former assemblywoman Lucy Flores, state Sen. Ruben Kihuen and philanthropist Susie Lee — each had slightly differing approaches for reaching voters, but all have something in common — the desire to come out on top Tuesday and be the Democratic candidate to take on the Republican counterpart in the general election. Republican Cresent Hardy currently holds the seat and is running for reelection.
LUCY FLORES
Flores fired up a group of a few dozen canvassers Saturday morning with a few encouraging words and a get-out-the-vote calland-answer cheer.
After volunteers went off to canvass neighborhoods, Flores talked about the campaign’s strategy. “For us it’s all about investing in people and talking with voters, engaging them as much as possible,” she said. “It takes a lot of work, and it takes a lot of energy. It’s not the easiest route, but I think it’s the best route.”
Flores said her campaign has consistently had between 20 and 35 people out in the field talking to voters “every single day for over two and a half months.” She too has been knocking on doors, “not every single day, but somewhere between two and four days a week since January, and over the last two and a half weeks, every single day.”
Among the issues she said are important to voters are education in Nevada, jobs, health care, Social Security, the high cost of college, and income inequality. “People are really excited that I’m the only candidate who is really talking about these progressive issues, not just pushing them, but that also I’m the candidate with the most effective record, she said, citing efforts to pass the safe getaway law and proficiency exam reform.
Flores was not the only one knocking on doors Saturday.
RUBEN KIHUEN
Kihuen met with Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, members of the Laborers Union and student volunteers from high schools and colleges. He reminded them that this is the most important part of a campaign. It’s about ‘who can knock on more doors and who can get more people to the polls?” he said, kicking off his canvassing event.
If elected, he would become the first immigrant and the first Latino from Nevada to be elected to Congress. Kihuen said he hopes to continue the same work that he’s done in the state legislature.
“At this point, a significant amount of people have already voted during the early vote,” Kihuen said. “Right now, we are going to that segment of the population that has not turned out and reminding them that Tuesday is election day and also reminding them that: Ruben is the candidate who fought to increase the minimum wage in Nevada, Ruben is the guy who co-sponsored a bill for equal pay for women, Ruben is the guy who created the first ever state grants for low-income students to go to college.”
Kihuen noted he has won endorsements from both by Sen. Harry Reid and former president Bill Clinton.“These are two of the leading Democratic voices in the country, two of our strongest leaders, and they have both endorsed our campaign along with other labor unions. The fact that they have endorsed our campaign is very humbling.”
SUSIE LEE
Lee, a Vegas philanthropist, got up early Saturday morning, put on a pair of navy-blue tennis shoes and was out knocking on doors and phone banking all afternoon.
With this weekend the last before Tuesday’s election, Lee was fully focused on getting out the vote.
An education advocate, Lee said, “I’m a big supporter of the federal government investing more in early childhood education and anything we can do to make college more affordable to students across the country.”
Helping her with her calls were interns, volunteers and her son.
Asked what differentiates her from the other candidates, Lee noted she lives in the district, has worked in it for 23 years and is not shopping around for a district to run in.
”I’ve been on the ground, I have not been running for one office after another,” she said. “Instead, I’ve been on the ground rolling up my sleeves and making a real impact in real people’s lives. People are tired of the dysfunction in Washington and they want a new type of leadership, one that’s been proven to be on the ground, to bring people together and solve problems. That’s the type of leadership I plan on taking to Washington.”