Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Q+A:

Self-funded GOP primary candidate puts no limits on his aspirations for Nevada

Nevada Gubernatorial Candidate Barak Zilberberg

Wade Vandervort

Nevada gubernatorial candidate Barak Zilberberg poses for a photo Thursday, March 10, 2022.

Real estate investor Barak Zilberberg hopes to bring amusement parks, professional sports teams and the Olympics to Nevada if he becomes governor.

In the crowded primary race for governor, Zilberberg, a Summerlin resident and Republican who has self-funded his campaign, thinks he will win the popular vote and turn the state red.

But he has a lot of work to accomplish over the next few months, as polling indicates he’s significantly behind others in the double-digit field of GOP candidates. In fact, in some polling he’s not even listed as an option.

Zilberberg, originally from Los Angeles, has lived in Las Vegas for about 13 years. He started a plumbing company, and became a manager and consultant in construction.

He also founded the Zilberberg Foundation in 2021, aiming to help the homeless and support children with disabilities. If he becomes governor, he plans to increase research and development of health care for pediatric cancer.

We spoke to Zilberberg on a wide variety of topics. Here’s our conversation, which has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What pushed you to run for governor?

What I realized is that the politicians, they promise and promise and promise. And once they’re in office, they don’t deliver. I’ve been successful within the private sector. I’ve saved my money, and I invested in real estate. And now I have passive income from my perseverance, my dedication, and my hard work. At this point, I could be making probably $1 million, $2 million a year, but I’ve delegated my assets in my real estate holdings to my son so he’s now handling that, so I could go out in the public sector as governor and bring that whole ideology into the public sector ... so that we have transparency, we have honesty — promises that are made, and they’re delivered.

I deliver on time. I will not even sleep, I won’t consciously give up until I deliver whatever I promise.

What is the No. 1 issue of your campaign?

There (are) no issues really; it’s just, I’m a people person. My whole thing is listening to people. That’s No. 1. You have to listen. You have to understand. And everybody has their own comprehension, or articulations of what they need, what they want, what type of leadership they want, for whatever reasons that they’re in.

Obviously now, with inflation, we’re already at a record high, with our gas prices and everything. And I think we should bring it down within reason so that everything comes down to affordability, and is interpreted within the wages of what people are earning.

What are your plans for immigration in Nevada?

We are a nation of immigrants. We came here from all parts of the world. We came here to the United States for the American dream. We all came here for a better life. We have people who are here who are very good people. They just need the ability to get a work permit. And they need the ability of a Social Security (card) so they can go ahead and go to the workforce.

If you’re not going to give them a work permit, and you’re not going to give them a Social Security number, then they’re going to work anyway for somebody, and they’re going to get paid underneath the table. Why not give these people the Social Security number and work permits so we identify our immigrants here in the nation?

We identify where they live, who they are. And then basically, we give them a work permit. They (contribute) to our tax system, they (contribute) to our community. And then if they prove themselves within a three-year period, they get their permanent residency. And then they furthermore do well, then they will be citizens of the United States within the seventh year. So that creates competitiveness within all of us, within all Americans.

By creating competitiveness, that raises the bar, that everybody got their play into the highest positions that is needed. That’s how I’m going to create a workforce.

How do you plan to improve education?

People say, “oh, we’re going to do school choice.” Nobody ever brought it to life. So my whole theory in conducting and enhancing our school district is starting from where everything is.

First off, we have to understand our superintendent. We have to understand who’s on the board. We have to study the track records. They haven’t done much, so we need to encourage those types of people to resign. We must put very smart, articulate people in the positions.

The teachers have high school diplomas. They haven’t finished their studies and universities and whatnot. They’re just high school graduates. (Editor’s note: This is inaccurate. Nevada law requires that teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree). Our teachers who are qualified teachers should have enhanced salaries.

We’ve got to incorporate in our school systems at a young age curriculums of real-life functions like accounting, technology, cybersecurity, real estate, tax codes. Once they know their talents, what they want to do, then they carry that all throughout high school. When they graduate, we have already recruitments of jobs, we have also encouragement and programs and how to start their own businesses.

If children want to go into the military, they can go into the military. So when they graduate high school, kids are not confused. They know exactly where they’re going, what direction. We need to dig deep, and we need to see what the core problems (are). I already know the core of the problems, but digging deep and cleaning house and making sure everything is right and functions right for our children.

What are your plans to solve Nevada’s water crisis?

Thirty-five percent of our water’s going to California and other regions in the United States, and also to Mexico. (Editor’s note: California is not taking Nevada’s water, but California does have the greatest allotment of water out of the Colorado River Compact states).

We’re inland here, and we need water here. We need to figure out what agreements are in place with other states and countries like Mexico, or what have you, as to the distribution of water that is leading from our Lake Mead reservoir. I also encourage those who have boundaries of water within the ocean, gulfs or seas, they should practice the desalination process. I want to renegotiate (the Colorado River Compact). And I want to be in good relations with all the neighboring states.

How do you plan to improve Nevada’s economy?

I’d like to make pacts and agreements amongst the states so that when we become self-sufficient here in Nevada, we could sell goods not only to our surrounding states but throughout the nation and throughout the world. So we don’t have cargo ships coming in here from China. China isn’t cheap anymore. We can produce goods and we can manufacture. We don’t need cargo ships. We don’t need anyone. We have our own industries here. We’re not lacking anything.

I’m looking to bring in industries, manufacturing. I’m going to give free land to people, Nevadan citizens so we could build infrastructures here. Because we have tons of land.

I’d like to bring Disneyland here. I’d like to bring Six Flags, Magic Mountain — anybody that I can speak to, and delegates of companies, corporations, small businesses. I’d like to invite the Olympics here, because the Olympics wasn’t sponsored here, ever. We should have an NBA team here as well. We should also have a baseball team. So the visions that I have (are) incredible. I’d like to also bring the Hyperloop here to Nevada so that we have high-speed transit systems to and from the cities in Nevada.

Do you believe the 2020 election was free and fair? What election reform would you like to see?

Well, I tell you right now, I don’t believe the mail-in ballots should be in place, because it does diminish the integrity of the elections. ... They send multiple ballots in the mail, they send also to supposedly deceased people so that people who are not even living, they’re sending over mail-in ballots.

Anybody who has the ability to walk into a poll, and show an identification that shows the person is a U.S. citizen and is a resident of whatever district they are, then that legitimizes the vote. We have to learn about the machinery and how it works so nothing falls through the cracks.

When I become governor, I’ll uphold election integrity, and the way I’m going to do it is through U.S. passports. You scan it. It shows your identity, as far as your party, who you’re voting for, and you get a receipt just like in a lottery ticket. Because everybody has driver’s licenses (Editor’s note: This is false. About 15% of Americans age 16 and up do not have a driver’s license). Even people who are not U.S. citizens. So how do you know who’s actually a U.S. citizen? They say that the driver’s license has a seal of some sort. I’ve never seen it.

If the state Legislature is mostly blue and Democrat-controlled, how will you work with them to get things done?

I work with all aisles. I work with everyone. Not only all parties — all races, all religions, all nationalities. The art of me is I will have an outreach for every diversity, every nationality, every religion here that exists in our blessed country. That’s how I’m going to bring it all together, so that we all are united.

What sets you apart from the other Republican candidates?

I am self-funding my own campaign up to this point. I am doing it out of my sincerity and passion and love of this country. I’m an entrepreneur, a businessman. They are all politicians.

I don’t believe we’re all Republicans running. They’re Republicans in name only. I will win by the people’s vote at the end of the day. I’m looking just to serve the people. And I will donate my gubernatorial salary sitting as a governor to our children’s education.