Assembly District 23
A Democrat and political newcomer is working to unseat a well-known Republican incumbent in Assembly District 23, where Republicans hold a nearly 14 percentage-point edge among active registered voters.
Craig Jordahl, a retired federal contract specialist and retired Air Force master sergeant, is challenging Melissa Woodbury, a teacher first elected to the Assembly in 2008.
Both candidates have made education a central theme of their campaigns, with Woodbury, a supporter of education savings accounts (ESAs), emphasizing the importance of “giving parents control of their child’s education.”
“No one is in a better position than you to choose which education options work best for your child,” her website says of her position on ESAs, which have not been implemented following a decision on funding legality by the Nevada Supreme Court. 
Woodbury didn’t return repeated requests seeking further comment for this story.
Jordahl, who ran unopposed in the primary, said he’s against using public money — via ESAs or any other mechanism — to fund private or charter school educations, arguing that doing so disadvantages children whose parents can’t afford those institutions.
He said that if elected, he would focus on supporting the “working middle class and working poor,” and listed bolstering unions, increasing the state minimum wage to $15 an hour and creating stronger background checks for firearms as his other priorities.
Woodbury, daughter of former and longtime Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, overcame the lack of an endorsement by the state GOP to win the primary election after voting last session in favor of a record $1.1 billion tax package put forward by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval that was opposed by many party legislators.
Awarded an A grade by the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund, Woodbury’s voting record includes co-sponsoring a bill to allow concealed carry of guns on college campuses and a number of education bills, including one to offer mental health screenings to students.
Contact Pashtana Usufzy at pusufzy@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @pashtana_u on Twitter.
