Appointed incumbent Brown-May seeking election in AD42
Assembly District 42 is evenly split with two Democrats including appointed incumbent Tracy Brown-May and two Republicans vying for a seat to represent a district covering a portion of Spring Valley and Paradise.
Brown-May is running for a full term “because there’s so much more work that needs to be done.”
She added that she was able to carry bills for committees in the last session, but because she had a late start there wasn’t an opportunity to do any bill draft requests of her own. Brown-May stepped in last year after Democratic Assemblyman Alex Assefa resigned from the Legislature amid an investigation into lying about his residency and misusing campaign funds.
After she was appointed by the Clark County Commission to fill Assefa’s seat, Brown-May described those first few weeks as a “whirlwind,” trying to get up to speed while finding a place to live in Carson City.
“But I’ve engaged in advocacy for the nonprofit sector for the last 20 years so I was familiar with the legislative process,” she said.
It’s her familiarity that she believes will allow her to do even more work for the district if elected and be effective at passing good policy, she said.
The disability community remains top-of-mind for Brown-May, who previously served as director of advocacy, board and government relations for nonprofit Opportunity Village. And she has policies in mind that would improve the quality of life for those with disabilities.
She would also like to focus on sustainability, mental health services as well as road safety for all modes of transportation such as driving and biking.
“How we access our community is so important and how people who don’t have access to cars have access to our community is so important,” she said.
Edward Facey
Republican Edward Facey, a Las Vegas resident since 2004, is making another run for office. He first filed to run for state Senate in District 11 in 2016, but withdrew. He then ran in 2020 in District 8 against Democratic incumbent and Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson.
“Really my agenda is safe neighborhoods, integrity in the election, better educated kids and a prosperous business climate,” Facey said.
In terms of education, he believes the Clark County School District shows a lack of attentiveness to parents’ concerns. Facey added changes to how Clark County schools are administered should be explored, noting that the district could do better in educating children.
“Are we preparing children to become young adults and prosper and have a good life?” he said. “That’s not necessarily being done well.”
Katrin Ivanoff
Republican Katrin Ivanoff is running for the first time, but it’s not her first time in the public eye. The cocktail server was featured in the Review-Journal in 2019 for shaving her head with her two children as part of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Shave charity event. She was then featured last year for being escorted by officers out of a Clark County Commission meeting.
Ivanoff said her interaction with the commission prompted her to run for office.
“They wanted to arrest me for trying to clarify a question, not even for saying what I think,” she said. “That’s communism. It is here.”
Ivanoff, who grew up in Bulgaria when it was under communist rule, said if she had a magic wand and could only fix one problem it would be voter integrity. When asked to clarify, she said it would mean implementing voter identification.
Other issues she’d like to address include repealing or at least lowering the state’s gas tax and proposing capital punishment for child sexual abusers.
She said the political figure she most admires is Andrew Jackson. Ivanoff acknowledged Jackson is a controversial figure, saying “nobody’s perfect,” but said she admired his message outlining why he was going to veto a bill to recharter the national bank.
Democratic candidate Sayed Zaidi did not return requests for comment.
Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.