Hardy Announces His Congressional Campaign

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Republican Assemblyman Cresent Hardy admits that he has a real challenge ahead of him in this year election cycle. Last week Hardy officially launched his campaign to run for the U.S. Congress.

“It is an uphill battle no doubt about it,” Hardy said in an interview with the Progress last week. “Given the nature of the District, there is a perceived advantage for the Democrat. But based on the issues, I think I can turn that around. I wouldn’t be in the race if I didn’t think I could win it.”

Now in his second Assembly term, Hardy will be running for the 4th Congressional District seat. This district represents a huge sprawling area covering nearly half of the state. It encompasses much of the rural center of the state including rural Clark County, parts of Lyon County and all of Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye and White Pine counties. But it also includes a small slice of urban North Las Vegas which is the most densely populated portion of the district.

In 2012, the election for the 4th District was won by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in a race against Republican candidate Danny Tarkanian. Given the partisan gridlock and divisiveness of the past two years in Washington, Hardy says that the time is right for a change.

“Steven Horsford has just followed along in lockstep with the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid/Barack Obama agenda and it has been the wrong direction,” Hardy said. “It has brought us, as a nation, to the brink of teetering on the edge of fiscal ruin; and it has to stop.”

Hardy says that he is an old-fashioned Ronald Reagan conservative and that he advocates a return back to conservative principles to solve many of the concerns and fears facing the country.

“People’s concerns right now are really about four main issues,” Hardy said. “Those are jobs, the economy, a balanced budget for government and reducing the size of government. These are the things that resonate with most voters on either side of the spectrum.”

Hardy said that he wants to promote policies that create more jobs and boost the economy.

“I’ll be clear, government or Congress is not a job-creating body,” Hardy said. “That’s not what it is supposed to do. But it can create an environment that will encourage job creation.”

Hardy said that the current environment leaves small business owners uncertain and reluctant to hire employees. Much of the blame of this can be attributed to the Affordable Care Act, Hardy said. He said that the massive health care law imposed a new tax and a mandate on people to buy insurance converage.

“We haven’t seen anywhere near the end of the effects of Obamacare on business yet,” Hardy said. “That’s why the President wants to keep extending the deadlines for businesses. That is the next major challenge and I guarantee you it won’t encourage job creation.”

Hardy said that he favors repealing and replacing Obamacare with a system run by the individual states.

“I think these kinds of issues are best handled close to home by each of the states,” he said. “Massachusetts came up with its own system that suited them. Other states should be allowed to do the same. Or, if they don’t want to, to not do anything at all.”

Hardy adds that there are some parts of the law that should be continued such as including children up to age 26 on their parents’ policies and the coverage of pre-existing conditions.

“Some of these things are important issues and were good reforms,” Hardy said. “I think that we should keep the best of them.”

Hardy supports bringing the power of government away from the federal government and closer to home on almost every issue.

On the subject of the management of federal lands, Hardy also shows this strong ‘states-rights’ positioning. He supports the idea of putting the management of much of Nevada’s federally held land into the hands of the state.

“I’m not talking about all of the land,” he said. “I’m not talking about Wilderness or National Parks or lands being used for national defense. But that leaves a lot of land still that the state should have access to in order to bring tax revenues to the state and get economic help.”

Of course, Hardy’s tendency towards keeping government close to home extends to the ongoing debate over the Gold Butte region lying south of Bunkerville and east of the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. Hardy says that the surrounding communities and the State of Nevada is better equipped than the federal government to take care of the Gold Butte region and manage it.

“Folks who live nearby and know that area are well aware of what needs to be done,” Hardy said. “They have the appetite to step up and do it. But then we have Harry Reid and Horsford who come in and say that we need to designate a new National Conservation Area (NCA) here in order to get the federal funding to manage it properly. My question is where is that funding going to come from? We’ve spent millions of taxpayers dollars at Red Rock NCA and we still have vandalism there. Here we have the people who have a vested interest in, and are willing to watch over, that area. We should really enable that kind of local stewardship to happen.”

On the issue of gay marriage, Hardy says that he is generally opposed to it based on his religious beliefs. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Even so, Hardy feels that this is yet another issue that should be decided by the states.

“If the State should decide that it is appropriate, then I’d live under that law,” Hardy said. “But it shouldn’t be something that is handed down to us by the federal government.”

Hardy says he is focusing 100 percent of his campaign on running against Horsford. But he will face off in a Republican primary against Niger Innis, a civil rights advocate and tea party member from North Las Vegas. Innis moved to Nevada a few years ago and hails originally from New York.

Hardy argues that he is the best person to represent the vast and diverse district, and the candidate who is most likely to beat Horsford.

As a lifelong Virgin Valley resident, Hardy is no stranger to the rurals. He is a fifth generation Nevada farmer/rancher with ancestors who were among the first settlers in the Virgin Valley.

But Hardy’s extensive experience has also equipped him to represent the interests of the urban areas of the district as well, he said. He has served in various public offices and boards including the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, the Clark County Regional Flood Control, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority, the Virgin Valley Water District and the Mesquite City Council. As owner of a large construction business, he has also been a leader in regional business efforts.

What’s more, Hardy said that his experience over the past four years at the State Legislature has helped him develop skills that could help in the widely-perceived Washington D.C. problem of partisan deadlock.

Hardy said he learned something very important during his freshman term in Carson City.

“When I went into that first session, it was a very divisive session,” he said. “There was some very ugly fighting between sides and I suppose I can take some responsibility for being involved in some of that. But I learned a lesson there. I had a lot of things I wanted to get done but because of all this fighting, we didn’t get as much done as I wanted to.”

Hardy said that when he came back for the second session he took a new approach. He said that he slowed down a little and took time to listen to people on the other side and develop relationships there.

“I found that there are good people on both sides,” Hardy said. “And we were able to find some common ground on a lot of issues. It turned out to be one of the most collegial sessions in thirty years and we accomplished a lot of good things for the State.”

“That’s what I would take with me to Washington,” Hardy said. “Of course, I am not going to violate my principles and values. But I have the ability to work with others with differing positions and to find common ground and compromise. And that is something that I feel is sorely needed back there.”