Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
▶ DISTRICT 4
all the candidates’ campaigning and fundraising efforts, and the primary election’s all-mail format may yet have an impact on turnout.
Steven Horsford
The incumbent congressman said in an interview that he is concentrating on providing more aid to Nevadans affected by COVID-19 through legislation and constituent services.
He is also attempting to plan for the massive economic downturn that has already begun to batter the state, likening it to his time after 9/11 as head of the Culinary Union Local 226’s training academy and the 2009 recession, which he worked through as majority leader of the Nevada state Senate.
Horsford said he’s been proud of bills that lowered prescription drug costs and the gender pay gap, raised the minimum wage and provided a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients that have all passed the House.
His primary reason for seeking re-election, he said, was to “serve the community I had the honor of growing up in.”
Horsford brushed off claims from his opponents that he no longer lives or spends enough time in the district, saying he was born and raised in Nevada and is still in daily contact with his constituents despite the pandemic.
“There will be plenty of time after the primary to discuss qualifications and strengths, and we’ll be ready to do that in the fall,” he said. “Right now, I’m squarely focused on delivering for Nevada’s families.”
Jim Marchant
Former Assemblyman Jim Marchant has raised about $323,000 and supplemented that with a $110,000 personal loan in his bid to be the district’s Republican challenger.
He believes his experience as a businessman and lobbyist during the tech boom in the 1990s and subsequent time as a one-term legislator in the state’s 37th District makes him the most qualified among the Republicans.
“We’ve never really had a true conservative run in this district, so I decided to give it a shot,” Marchant said.
Marchant said Nevada could be at the center of the universe for a variety of different business sectors, including renewable energy, if it had the right leadership.
He called himself an “unapologetic fiscal conservative” looking to cut spending and taxes.
Lisa Song Sutton
Lisa Song Sutton, a Republican attorney-turned-entrepreneur and former Miss Nevada United States, touted her grassroots support as a major indicator for possible primary success.
She’s raised $337,000, which includes a $35,000 personal donation. Her average individual donation is $27, she said. She also has far more cash on hand than any other Republican challenger when debts are factored in.
“We cannot keep propping up the same types of candidates — keep supporting massive self-funders,” she said. “It shows they are not able to get widespread support.”
Sutton, a millennial daughter of a Korean immigrant and owner of several local businesses, said she is capable of appealing to a far larger and more diverse group of potential supporters than any of the other Republican challengers.
“2020 is the year private sector individuals like myself come off the sidelines and get directly involved to really stand up for our communities,” Sutton said.
Sam Peters
Republican Sam Peters spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a major after earning a Bronze Star during four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has since opened a family insurance agency in Las Vegas.
“Service to this country is something I’ve been doing for a long, long time,” Peters said.
Peters has set out to make it clear he is the Republican primary candidate who most closely aligns with Trump, particularly on immigration.
During his service, he trained K-9 units for drug detection on the U.S.-Mexico border, where he said a wall and increased resources are needed.
Peters, who has two young children and a third daughter working as a registered nurse, said rebuilding the post-pandemic economy, tightening the federal budget and protecting the Second Amendment are also major priorities.
He has spent more than a year crisscrossing the district and actively campaigning. His campaign has raised about $170,000, and he’s loaned it about $84,000.
Leo Blundo
Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo, a Republican, believes being the only challenger currently holding office should speak to his electability. He’s accessible to his constituents around the clock, he said, and would be a stark contrast to Horsford.
“Maybe it’s easier for him to live in Virginia, but I’m a Nevadan,” Blundo said. “I want to represent the values we have here in Nevada.”
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