GOP activist and business owner challenges Democratic incumbent and attorney in Assembly District 18

GOP activist and business owner Christine DeCorte is challenging one-term Democratic incumbent and attorney Venicia Considine in the general election race for Assembly District 18.

“I think there should be more conservative leadership in Carson City,” said DeCorte, a semi-retired insurance broker.

“I think it needs a little bit more balance,” said the 67-year-old, who as a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 2016 supported Donald Trump.

DeCorte, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2016, said she entered the race this time so that Considine would not run unopposed in the heavily Democratic district in the eastern Las Vegas Valley.

Considine, 53, said that as a legislator she wants to help other Nevadans have the same opportunities that allowed her to create a better life for her daughter.

In high school, she lived in a campground off of Boulder Highway with her family when they moved to Las Vegas from New York. She was able to go to college in part because tuition at UNLV and rent were affordable.

“Those were things that made me absolutely fall in love with this state,” said Considine, an attorney for Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.

A priority for her as a lawmaker is affordable housing for both working-class and low-income residents, including creating new incentives to build such housing. This would require discussion among builders, affordable housing entities and both political parties, she said.

“I think that the housing issue across the board affects just about the entire state,” she said.

Among other bills, Considine sponsored legislation in her fist term requiring that contracts for leases, goods and services be written in the same languages in which they were advertised or negotiated.

British-born DeCorte, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a Nevadan for more than 40 years, said she wants to fight government overreach. “I believe in the people governing themselves a lot more than I feel the Democrats believe in,” she said.

Her No. 1 issue is water. “If we don’t have water, we’re going to be a ghost town,” she said.

With more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans in the district, DeCorte acknowledges she faces an uphill battle.

She entered the race, she said, “in case there’s a red wave, in case people are going, ‘I’m tired of paying $5 a gallon for gas.’”

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.