Cohen facing new opponent in Assembly District 29

For the first time since 2012, the race to represent Assembly District 29 will look a little different to voters this year.

From 2014 to 2018, Democrat Lesley Cohen and Republican Stephen Silberkraus faced off three consecutive times for the seat. Silberkraus ousted Cohen, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy, in 2014. Cohen retook the seat by defeating Silberkraus in 2016 and fended him off again in 2018.

This year, it’s local dentist and political newcomer Steven DeLisle challenging Cohen from the Republican side. (Silberkraus ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents this year.)

DeLisle criticized the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by Gov. Steve Sisolak, specifically the governor’s decision to implement capacity restrictions on businesses in order to slow the spread of the virus. DeLisle said those policies should have been left up to industry leaders to develop.

He said the state needs to focus on creating more jobs and encouraging businesses to grow in order to recover from the economic collapse caused by the pandemic, and said he is opposed to any proposal to raise taxes, including the proposals Democrats set in motion during the special session in August to change how mining companies are taxed.

“If you continue to increase taxes on business, it’s going to further harm the economy and shed jobs,” he said.

Disagreeing on cuts

DeLisle said he disagreed with the cuts lawmakers made to he budget during the recent special session, especially to education and health care. Asked about how he would address the budget if the state faces further fiscal woes from the pandemic, DeLisle offered no suggestions as to where the state could cut.

“I haven’t seen the budget. I’m not going to comment on that,” he said.

On education, DeLisle said he favors school choice and is in favor of putting more of the state’s money into expanding voucher programs like Opportunity Scholarships, which provides private-school tuition aid to low-income students.

Boosting outdoor tourism

Cohen, the incumbent, said her top goal for the 2021 session is to shepherd meaningful bills through the Health and Human Services Committee, which she chaired in 2019.

She also hedged when asked about the potential for further budget issues, and said that the state won’t know where it will be fiscally until closer to the next legislative session in 2021.

“I think we’re going to be prioritizing supporting hardworking Nevadan families as much as possible,” she said. “We just need to have everyone at the table.”

But she said the state should be looking for ways to diversify its economy away from gaming and tourism, and said one avenue could be expanding outdoor tourism, which has seen a boost in some cases as people have looked to vacation in more socially-distant ways.

“It’s a multi-billion dollar industry for us. It’s not something where jobs can be shipped overseas or to another state,” she said.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.