Ex-state lawmakers Horsford and Marchant battle for 4th District

Three challengers oppose Rep. Steven Horsford’s re-election bid in Nevada’s sprawling 4th District, as coronavirus recovery and small business health loom as major issues heading into November.

Horsford, a former majority leader in the Nevada state Senate, is running for his third term in Congress after capturing the 4th in 2012, losing it in 2014 and winning it back in 2018. His district includes northern Clark County, southern Lyon County and all of Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye and White Pine counties.

Republican Jim Marchant, also a former state legislator, emerged from a crowded Republican primary field in June to challenge Horsford. He brings the backing of President Donald Trump to a race in which voter registration favors a Democrat and Horsford holds a commanding fundraising lead.

Libertarian Jonathan Royce Esteban is also actively campaigning in the race, though it is unclear if Independent American candidate Barry Rubinson is doing the same.

Horsford focused on workers

In an interview with the Review-Journal, Horsford — the state senate’s majority leader during the Great Recession and head of the Culinary Union Local 226’s training academy during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — stressed that COVID-19 has hit the Nevada economy harder than anything he’s ever seen.

“We’re doing everything we can to get the economy going and get people back to work safely,” he said. “We also want to rebuild our economy in a way that’s more inclusive and equitable.”

He’s been a part of passing six coronavirus-related aid bills, four of which have made it into law. But Horsford again stressed the importance of providing more assistance for Nevada workers and businesses during the pandemic.

In July, he co-sponsored the Back on Your Feet Act, which would extend enhanced unemployment benefits until at least the end of January. It would also give workers a one-time bonus of up to $3,600 to cover expenses like child care, transportation and restarting health benefits.

Horsford said he is also working to get housing and rental assistance provisions passed in the next coronavirus relief package, as well as increased mandates for COVID-19 case reporting in nursing homes.

His congressional office continues to field hundreds of calls for pandemic-related issues, including help with unemployment, business loans and immigration services. He is particularly attuned, he said, to the plight of small business owners still reeling from the pandemic.

“Small businesses are the engines of our economy,” Horsford said. “The dry cleaners, the restaurants — mom and pop businesses employ the lion’s share of Nevadans. Keeping them open and solvent is a big priority of mine.”

Horsford said he helped business owners in his district apply for grants, and worked with the rest of the state’s delegation to reverse a federal rule disallowing gaming businesses from collecting crucial Paycheck Protection Program loans.

On the campaign side, Horsford said he’s stayed active with more than 100 online community events as the pandemic virtually ended in-person campaigning for most state Democrats.

He holds a massive fundraising lead as of the end of June, with $2.4 million raised and about $1.5 million left on hand to Marchant’s $646,000 raised and $143,000 left on hand.

Marchant on the attack

During his interview, Marchant railed against Horsford and the Nevada state government for shutting down the economy in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“The COVID virus may be a little more serious than a regular flu, but I think we went way overboard,” Marchant said. “More people are suffering than had we not done this.”

“It’s all feeding into the Democrats’ plan of destroying our economy,” he continued. “They are willing to sacrifice our great economy and the well-being of the general public to get President Trump out of office.”

Marchant said that he, like the president, is a businessman and not a politician.

As such, he would immediately reopen all businesses with some rules on things like hand-washing and social distancing.

He also heaped praise onto Trump’s handling of the economy pre-COVID, saying many don’t understand that the president’s deregulation efforts had just as strong an effect as the tax cuts. He supports more cuts on both fronts.

Marchant, who owns an ice and water vending business and is a retired tech entrepreneur, said Horsford has no experience in business, calling him a “career politician and lobbyist.”

He also called Horsford a “liberal socialist” akin to favorite conservative target Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

“(Horsford) is part of the problem on the other side who don’t understand how to get the economy going again,” Marchant said. “Do we want socialism of freedom in this country?”

In response, Horsford said it was Marchant who operates on the fringe of his party, having been endorsed by far-right groups such as the House’s Freedom Caucus.

Horsford said he worked with Republican legislators to pass state budgets that diversified the economy during his state legislative tenure, while Marchant has sought to cut funding for education and social services during his.

Marchant acknowledged some long odds in the 4th District, which the Cook Political Report rates as competitive but “likely Democratic.”

“This is a Democratic district, and we’re going to have to work really hard a catch a few breaks for us to win it,” Marchant said.

While meeting voters has been important, Marchant said he’s spent “95 percent” of his time fundraising.

The race has the possibility of drawing big-money outside spending, as top campaign arms and dark money allies from both parties have already earmarked millions in future ad spending in the Las Vegas media market. However, the conventional wisdom is that most of this cash has been set aside for the ultra-competitive 3rd District to the south.

In addition to COVID-19 reopening, Marchant said he is also campaigning hard for 2nd Amendment rights, support for law enforcement and a push to hold China accountable for the pandemic.

Third party option

Esteban, the Libertarian, is among the youngest congressional candidates in the country on a general ballot at just 25 years old — the youngest age permissible in the U.S. Constitution to run for Congress.

He said he felt there was “something lacking” with both Marchant and Horsford, adding that he can provide voters with another option for both fiscal responsibility and expanded social reforms.

Esteban advocates for cutting government spending across the board and even suspending “nonessential” government services in favor of establishing a universal basic income, regular cash payments to each taxpayer based on a set percentage of tax revenue, that he said would allow Americans to more naturally restart the economy.

These cuts would include dramatic rollbacks of military and prison spending at all levels, Esteban said.

Esteban also supports defunding police departments at a federal level and dissolving all police unions.

“Government workers should not be able to collectively bargain against the taxpayers,” Esteban said. “Without tackling the unions, no police reform plan can go as far as it needs to.”

Rubinson, the Independent American candidate, did not respond to several requests for an interview.

Contact Rory Appleton at rappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.