Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

In unexpected move, Danny Tarkanian files to run for Congress in Nevada’s 2nd District

GOP Nevada Election Night Party at South Point

Christopher DeVargas

Danny Tarkanian takes the stage at the South Point to deliver his concession speech and to give thanks to all his supporters, Tuesday Nov. 6, 2018.

Danny Tarkanian’s surprise filing for Congress and Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore’s spin from running for governor to state treasurer are among the highlights of the two-week candidate filing period, which ended today.

Tarkanian, the son of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and NSHE Board of Regent Lois Tarkanian, filed today in Carson City to run against Republican Rep. Mark Amodei in the Northern Nevada based 2nd Congressional District.

This isn’t the first time Tarkanian has launched a campaign, as he’s been defeated three times attempting to win a seat in the House of Representatives and twice in the U.S. Senate in a political career dating back to the early 2000s. He moved to the Reno area a few years ago, and won his first election in 2020 — a spot on the Douglas County Commission in rural Nevada by a handful of votes.

Tarkanian did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, but posted on Twitter that he is “tired of seeing Republicans vote for amnesty & omnibus budgets while being silent on critical issues.”

He called out Amodei, the lone Republican in Nevada’s federal delegation, for supporting former President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry. Amodei has held the seat since 2011.

Tarkanian is only one of several challengers looking to oust Amodei, including Republicans Jesse Douglas Hurley and Brian Nadell. Democrats Michael Doucette, Aaron Michael Sims, Timothy Hanifan, Brian Hansen, Joseph Afzal, Gerold Lee Gorman and Rahul Joshi all filed, in addition to an independent candidate, Russell Best.

Tarkanian isn’t the only Republican again on the ballot.

Republican and former District 4 Rep. Crescent Hardy filed Friday to run for the 1st Congressional District, which is held by Democratic Rep. Dina Titus. Republicans Jane Adams, Mark Robertson, Carolina Serrano are also looking to take her seat.

Click to enlarge photo

Congressman Cresent Hardy gives a concession speech during a Nevada GOP election night party at the South Point Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.

Hardy in 2014 defeated Steven Horsford for the District 4 seat, and then lost to Horsford in 2016 and 2018.

Five Republicans are looking to be the next representative of the 3rd Congressional District, currently held by Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, including April Becker, Mark Robertson, Noah Malgeri, Reinier Prijten and Clark Bossert.

Horsford, the incumbent in the 4th Congressional District, is facing three Republican challengers: veteran and business owner Samuel James Peters, Assemblywoman Annie Black and Chance Bonaventura, who is the chief of staff for Fiore.

Although former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt is the presumed GOP frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race, with the backing of former President Donald Trump and several federal Republican officeholders, nine other Republicans have entered the field in hopes of replacing Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

State races

The final day of filing saw one more Republican (Bradley Beck) join the gubernatorial race with hopes of ruining Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s re-election bid, as nonpartisan Monique Richardson and Libertarian Brandon Davis also turned in paperwork to swell the field to 22 candidates.

Even without Fiore, who on Thursday decided to instead file for state treasurer, the primary hopefuls include three who have previously won elections in Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.

“Nevada taxpayers have a clear choice: a life-long ‘Fearless Conservative’ like me or a left-leaning progressive that is destroying our state,” Lee, who filed March 8, said in a statement. “As your next Governor I’ll cut taxes, create jobs, protect the unborn, uphold the Second Amendment, and cut bureaucratic red tape to get our economy moving in the right direction.”

The lieutenant governor race is also shaping up to be contentious, with a total of 14 people running.

On the Democratic side, that includes current Lt. Gov. Lisa Cano Burkhead, who was appointed to the vacant post in December by Sisolak, Henderson Mayor Debra March and Kimi Cole, chair of the Nevada Democratic Rural Caucus.

On the Republican side, Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony, veteran Tony Grady and business owner John Miller.