Nevada League of Women Voters hosts third election forum in Brewery Arts Center in Carson City

League of Women Voters of Northern Nevada, AAUW Capital (NV) Branch and Sierra Nevada Forums presented the third of four election forums of 2022 on Friday, Oct. 11 located at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

The Senator candidates from District 16 who participated in the forum included Republican candidate Lisa Krasner and Democratic candidate Aaron Sims.

The Assembly candidates from District 40 who participated in the forum included Democratic candidate Shannon McDaniel and Republican candidate Philip "PK" O'Neill. The Assembly candidate from District 39 who participated in the forum included Democratic candidate Janice Noble. Republican candidate Ken Gray declined the invitation.

The moderator for this forum was Heather Bowles, the Senior Field Organizer for the League of Women Voters.

In each of the different parts of the forums, they are given an opening statement, asked questions and allowed a rebuttal. Some of the questions in all of the forums are questions from the audience. Below are the summarized responses of each candidate.

The Senator Candidates

The forum between candidates from the Senate in District 16, Krasner and Sims began with their opening statements. Assembly Woman Krasner could only stay for 30 minutes. It was agreed to let Krasner give her opening statement first.

• Opening Statements:

In her statement, Krasner discussed her earlier position as the State Assemblywoman for District 26. She discussed her degrees and endorsements and experience teaching about constitutions.

In Sims' statement, he said he got into the race because he believes lifting up the working class and average Nevada people. He discussed his 15 to 20 years of activism in politics and mentioned his endorsements.

Here are the questions and summarized responses of each of the candidate, including rebuttals:

• Question 1: Do you accept the results of the 2020 presidential election as legitimate? What measures do you believe are necessary to ensure fair, accurate elections and equal voting access?

Sims: He said he believes the security in Nevada is ranked as one of the highest in the nation. However, when it comes to voting access, he said the rural communities need to have better connection which can be done by having more areas to vote and ensuring mail-in ballots are available. He wants everyone to be able to vote in Nevada.

Krasner: Yes. She said Nevada has come a long way for equal access of voting. She believes every citizen should have access to voting. She said people's biggest concerns are ballot harvesting, mail-in ballots being received for five days after the Election Day instead of sooner and date altering on ballots.

Sims' rebuttal: He believes five days is an accurate time for mail-in ballots because it helps ensuring accurate counting and submission on time.

• Question 2: What do you perceive to be the greatest fiscal challenge for Nevada in the immediate future and how would you address it?

Krasner: The economy's inflation and job creation are very important issues for Nevada as a whole, she explains. The cost of living and gas prices are constantly being complained about and finding good paying jobs is a struggle.

Sims: He said what's going to cost Nevada a lot is that the next time we run into an emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, we won't be prepared. He wants to extend the state's revenue to be better prepared. He also wants to ensure affordable housing, healthcare, good education and good-paying jobs.

Krasner's rebuttal: She reiterates that she thought it was a single issue mentioned, so she adds education is just as important. She wants school-choice to improve this.

• Question 3: The effects of climate change are already evident in our region, with huge wildfires, smoke, drought, extreme heat events and more. What policy or legislation would you support to help minimize Nevada's CO2 emissions and how would you help our communities to adapt to climate change?

Sims: He believes Nevada should reduce their carbon emissions by reducing the dependency on coal, like what's been done federally. He thinks investment in public transportation and lowering factory emissions could help. He thinks choosing building locations wisely to support smart, sustainable growth should help them adapt. He also wants to create a new policy to have more proper forest management to decrease wildfires.

Krasner: She agrees everyone wants clean water and clean air and that Nevadans care about their state. She said she would be willing to go along with legislation that is not too far-reaching, like public transportation, car pool and bike lanes.

• Question 4: How would you increase the availability of quality, affordable housing?

Krasner: She created a law in 2020 that helped builders not fall behind in their process of creating affordable housing. She believes it is incredibly important to have affordable apartments, condominiums and houses.

Sims: He reiterates that Nevada is in a housing crisis currently, which started years ago. He wants to build real, actually affordable housing and agrees with housing integration.

• Question 5: How do you propose we increase access to high-quality healthcare and recruit and retain health care professionals, especially in our rural areas?

Sims: He said they must ensure all Nevadans are insured and they need to build more hospitals and clinics. He emphasizes health insurance includes mental health as a priority.

Krasner: She said access to quality healthcare is very important. She said Nevada has one of the worst shortages in healthcare professionals. She also believes the legislature should increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate and there should be priority to attract more professionals.

Sims' rebuttal: He said to attract professionals is by offering more competitive pay, even if it means the state has to make a long term investment to do it.

• Question 6: Would you support legislation that limits reproductive rights and please explain your position?

Krasner: She asked for the question to be clarified, to which she was asked what her position on abortion rights are. She reiterates that the abortion rights cannot be taken away by the legislature. But her personal opinion is she is pro-life with exceptions of rape, incest and life, health and safety of the mother. She also agrees with ease of access for contraception for everyone.

Sims: No. He said when it comes to reproductive rights for anyone with a uterus, it is up to them and their doctor.

• Question 7 (From the audience) What will you do to address the lack of child care?

Sims: He said the state of Nevada could partner with private entities to provide access to working families for good child care.

Krasner: She believes lack of child care is a problem for the working class and for single mothers. She thinks government tax credits to open child care facilities could help and easing up on burdensome regulations could help.

Sims' rebuttal: He disagrees with taking away from the regulations because they ensure the children's protections.

• Question 8: (From the audience) Would you support the legislature housing to comply with the open meeting law and the public records law and why or why not?

Krasner: Yes, she would support anyone complying with the open meeting law so citizens have access to understanding what's going on with their legislatures.

Sims: He agrees with the open meeting law, but it would have to be condensed. He knows they should be transparent, but there should be a base of restrictions.

• Closing Statements:

In Krasner’s closing statement, she said her experience is what makes her the better candidate. Serving for multiple sessions allows her to know what's going on and allowed her to pass high-quality bi-partisan legislation and bills that she said helps Nevadans.

In Sims' closing statement, he said his purpose of running is to stand up for the working-class and everyday Nevadans. He believes there should be an open-door policy for legislatures.

Assembly Candidates from Districts 39 and 40

The forum between candidates from District 40, McDaniel and O'Neill and the candidate from District 39, Noble began with their opening statements. It was agreed to let O'Neill give his opening statement first.

• Opening Statements:

In his opening statement, O'Neill discusses his current position in the Assembly and talked about his family life and his job experience. He said Nevada needs policies to promote it as a place of business and family and restore the economy, support law enforcement, fix education and health care too.

In McDaniel's opening statement, she said Nevada is the driest state in the nation and her goal is to find water at the top of every legislation discussion and the water law is something she is well acquainted with.

In Noble's opening statement, she explained that she promises to be the representative to support people's rights. She believes in common sense solutions to their problems, like education, health care, voting rights and women's reproduction rights. She also reiterates that Ken Gray rejected the forum to not answer the questions she did.

• Question 1: Do you accept the results of the 2020 presidential election as legitimate? What measures do you believe are necessary to ensure fair, accurate elections and equal voting access?

McDaniel: Yes, she thinks it was fair. She said ballot harvesting is allowed, but she believes voting needs to be accessible. She believes tightening ballot harvesting could help.

O'Neill: Yes. He said if a person questions the results, they have the right to. He said tightening regulations up should help. He says it was not allowed by the Democrats in power. He thinks investing in technology to have a more immediate response is important and they should work for improvement.

Noble: Yes. She said her opponent has stated that voting is not a right and she disagrees. She said Nevada needs to allow as much access as possible, including mail-in ballots. She said they should no redistrict in a way that segregates votes.

• Question 2: What do you perceive to be the greatest fiscal challenge for Nevada in the immediate future and how would you address it?

O'Neill: He said the economy is not much controlled by the state, but businesses and job opportunities can be helped. There are casinos and hotels not fully operational because of the lack of staff, he said. Enlarging the economy and bringing tourism back is going to bring Nevada back and encourage people and businesses to come here. Education and healthcare are sub-sections to the economy as a whole

McDaniel: She agrees with her opponent. The economy is the biggest fiscal challenge with inflation. She thinks they can reduce barriers to entry to attract businesses to the state which will increase jobs. She wants to reform occupational laws to attract health care professionals and increase affordable housing and improve education.

Noble: She said the biggest issue is there's too much month left at the end of the money. People need better prices from inflation and Nevada nees to bring in more health care professionals into the state and more teachers for education. She said balancing development with resources available is necessary.

O'Neil's rebuttal: He talks about the nurse's compact both his opponent's brought up and agrees the Assembly is trying to do something.

• Question 3: What actions should the Nevada legislature take to help ensure Nevada has an adequate supply of safe and clean drinking water now and in the future?

Noble: She said Nevada has over-allocated their water resources and they need a comprehensive plan. They need to measure and conserve the water and reward those who use less water. She said having a plan in place is important.

McDaniel: She said they are in a use-it-or-lose-it state in Nevada. She said conservation is not a part of the state's water law, so the state can take the water from the people trying to conserve. She also said they need a legislative framework to manage the resource.

O'Neill: He said in the last ten years, there have been plenty of bills passed for water, but he said the problems they have is thinking of the long-term of preserving water. He said it's also been addressed at every legislation, but they could do better.

Noble's rebuttal: She said she's concerned about paper water and it is something they shouldn't be doing.

• Question 4: What measures should the Nevada legislature take to balance the economic rewards of mining for resources such as lithium with the potential adverse environmental impacts and disturbance of sacred lands of Nevada's indigenous citizens?

McDaniel: She said she's in favor of responsible mining and they have a responsibility to tribal members and their lands. She thinks there should be improvement of communication, like seen in the lack of it at Thacker Pass. She wants to make sure the mines are taken care of but the bad actors are being held accountable.

O'Neill: He thinks they should talk about copper mines too. He thinks it's about learning from their past mistakes and not so much about regulations. He said they want to hear from the tribal communities and legislation of the mines isn't necessary.

Noble: She said the community needs protection from the mining and they need to monitor it. The balance between the economy of Nevada versus the damage are things they need to look at. She also believes there should be better communication upfront with these issues and they need to learn from past mistakes.

McDaniel: She agrees with Noble that communications need to be done upfront.

• Question 5: What changes would you recommend for improving K-12 education?

O'Neill: He believes in parental involvement, parental choice and bringing parents back into the system. He thinks the schools need to get a bit more competitive and allow parents to choose. He said being more innovative and supporting the teachers is important.

Noble: She thinks teachers need a pay-raise and to be more appreciated. She said more mental health support for children and teachers in school is necessary and she thinks there should be no diversion of funds to private schools. She believes it's a parent's choice of school.

McDaniel: There has been more requirements on public schools and teachers, but they don't have the funding for it. She said funding to achieve smaller class sizes and increase employee pay is priority. If they take funding from public schools, they cannot be competitive. She also believes the schools should have a mental health professional to help.

O'Neil's rebuttal: He never said teachers don't need a raise, but he says the money from 2009 was not used and they asked for more money in 2015.

• Question 6 (From the audience) Do you think Nevada's legislature should have annual sessions?

Noble: She said they could probably get more done within the extension of time and that there could be a longer session every year on top of meeting every year.

McDaniel: She said she would be in favor of moving toward annual sessions so they can pass more of the important bills that aren't included.

O'Neill: He said no. He said the sessions are established in the Nevada Constitution and what they should really do is demand the legislators to work on Fridays and Saturdays, where hardly anyone is there. He thinks it's not fair to citizens to not have legislators working.

Noble's rebuttal: She said after the session, they take a break where they have committee work for the next session. She said even forcing those days will not be enough time to pass essential bills.

• Question 7: (From the audience) Who are the top three contributors financially to your campaign?

McDaniel: The Carson City Dems, the Nevada State Democratic Party and a donation from the CWA Political Action Fund.

O'Neill: A lot of his contributions have come from John Q Citizen, the Realtors Association and Casino Fandango. He said it's been tight because people are recovering from the shutdown of COVID-19.

Noble: She said she has not paid anyone in her campaign. She had thirteen women in her campaign volunteer for them. Donors include John Q public women or men and a private citizen who has donated. The rest of the campaign has come from small donors, not unions or businesses.

McDaniel's rebuttal: She said the Progressive Turnout Project gave a kind donation as well.

• Question 8: (From the audience) What will you do to address the lack of child care?

O'Neill: He said it's economy-driven. He said they need to get people back to work, so businesses need to provide an incentive of child care for people to go back to work.

Noble: She said she child care is expensive and women are leaving the workforce because they can't afford to pay for daycare. She said providing a living wage for child care workers and provide resources to expand child care services and the hours that they're open.

McDaniel: She agrees with both candidates. She believes partnering with businesses and providing incentives is important. However, the area she said that's overlooked is women being convicted of crimes not being eligible for children's cabinet, something that prohibits them from getting back on their feet.

O'Neill's rebuttal: He disagrees with Sisolak giving money back to daycares. He said it's not just women not being in the system, because he was a single parent.

• Question 9: [From the audience] Will you submit a bill draft request to repeal the Commerce tax/Margins tax?

Noble: She cannot answer the question because she is not familiar with that.

McDaniel: She said she doesn't think she will repeal it, but she would want to be more familiar with it if she did anything with it.

O'Neill: He explained what they should do is not look at one tax specifically, but review where Nevada's expenditures are and look at what they can reduce across the board on taxes.

Noble's rebuttal: She added that she would want to do more research to understand it better and then make a decision.

• Closing Statements:

The speakers then gave their closing statements, starting with McDaniel.

In her closing statement, McDaniel reiterated that she put in the time and the work. She doesn't have all the answers, but she will work hard to come up with those answers.

In O'Neill's closing statement, he said they can all work together for a better tomorrow in Nevada and put it back where it should be.

In Noble's closing statement, she said the core values are transparency, honesty and integrity in the elected officials. She said it's about a commitment to work hard, making a contribution and improving the lives of the people in her community.

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To view the livestream of the third election forum on Oct. 11, click here.

To access nonpartisan information on local and state candidates, go to www.vote411.org

Mail-in ballots will be sent to all Carson City voters. In person early voting is from Saturday, October 22 through Friday, November 4. Election Day is Tuesday Nov. 8.

For more information, check the Carson City elections website https://www.carson.org/government/departments-a-f/clerk-recorder/electio... and the Secretary of State elections website https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/elections/election-information.

The League of Women Voters of Northern Nevada is a non-partisan non-profit organization supporting public information and involvement to promote informed voting and public participation.

Sierra Nevada Forums provides citizens with fact-based verifiable information to assist them in making well-informed decisions on issues of importance to our community and beyond.

The mission of the American Association of University Women is to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy. AAUW Capital (NV) branch is the local entity.