By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
Nevada Assemblyman Chris Edwards is facing an unorthodoxed election season to say the least. He is in a Republican primary faceoff with challenger, Mesquite City Councilwoman Annie Black. Since no Democrat candidate has filed for the race, the June 9 primary will be the main event, with the winner taking the seat. And to complicate matters, COVID-19 has made it very difficult for candidates to campaign in the sprawling District 19, which includes Mesquite, Overton, Boulder City and parts of Henderson.
“It is a real challenge: how you run this campaign during the coronavirus,” Edwards said in an interview last week. “You know, I certainly don’t want to put anybody at risk by going out and knocking on doors. And all the standard campaign events are also no longer possible either. So it is tough to get to people out there in that direction.”
Edwards said that he has always tried to be very accessible to his constituents. He feels that accessibility is even more important now that he is not able to make the rounds personally.
“I’ve always been open to hearing good ideas from members of the district,” he said. “My personal cell number has been out there on my website for the past seven years. People can feel free to give me a call. And if they’ve got great ideas, I’m happy to hear them.”
Edwards said that his campaign has been taking a different tack this year than ever before. With COVID-19 on everyone’s mind, the focus has been on getting better information out to the public.
“We have revised our (campaign) website to focus on what we could do to provide resources to people throughout the district; and the state, really,” Edwards said. “We wanted to show people where to get the help that they need for businesses and families and try to keep them afloat as best we can.”
Edwards said that the upcoming year, including the 2021 Legislative session, is sure to be difficult for the state of Nevada and its people. He is concerned about the un-anticipated and unforeseen shock waves from the pandemic that will surely be impacting the State’s economy.
“The good news is, we actually put away money for this kind of event,” Edwards said speaking of the state’s emergency funds. “The bad news is we are going to have to use that money and we will probably drain the emergency fund accounts and start over again.”
Edwards said that this starting over will be a challenge given the hit taken by business and industry in the state.
“It’s a real conundrum because, on the one hand, we won’t have revenues we need,” he said. “On the other hand, a lot of small businesses are going to be either gone completely, or struggling for their lives to stay afloat. So you can’t really tax them without destroying them completely. Meanwhile, the larger industries are struggling too and won’t be bringing in revenues that they have in the past. So it will be a dilemma.”
Edwards said that the legislature and governor will have to find ways to cut costs while doing the least amount of damage to the state government and its services.
“We will have to try and spread and minimize the pain across the board, knowing all the while that there is going to be some pain,” he said.
The first way to address that is to be sure that the state is highly effective at bringing sufficient federal dollars back to Nevada, Edwards believes.
“We have to make sure that Nevada isn’t left out in the cold,” Edwards said. “The governor and his staff, and the federal Congressional delegation, have to be at the top of their game in seeking out every resource from the feds that they can find for the state.”
Edwards recalled the housing crisis of 2008 where Nevada did not receive as much federal help as he felt it could have.
“The state wasn’t really taken care of,” Edwards said of that time. “We should have had more resources poured into the state because we were an epicenter of that crisis. But I don’t think that Nevada got a fair share of help in that situation. That can’t happen again.”
Edwards also believes that, in order for businesses to more quickly bounce back in the aftermath of COVID-19, that the state government needs to step out of their way.
“I think that maybe the best thing we could do is to get the government out of the way to the maximum extent possible,” Edwards said, “so that businesses can actually start, get up and running, and thrive and continue on without being weighed down by so many fees, regulations and so on.”
Edwards, who was first elected to his seat in 2014, said that he has worked hard to be responsive to the various needs of his district, especially those of the rural areas.
“I have always defended rural water rights, I’ve always defended economic growth, I’ve always pushed for more support and funding for rural schools and I’ve been a big advocate for veterans issues” Edwards said.
“I’ve always tried to listen to what the folks in Mesquite and Moapa Valley want and get it done,” Edwards added.
For example, Edwards recalls being approached by City of Mesquite officials a couple of years ago to help them get a new city charter passed at the legislature.
“I jumped on board, gave them all the support that they needed to make it happen and co-sponsored the bill,” Edwards said. “Pretty much anything that folks out there have come up with, that I can do, I will do.”
Edwards said that he anticipates the upcoming session to be difficult with some hard decisions to be made. That will take someone with some experience representing District 19, he said.
“It’s going to be swimming in deep waters up there this time,” Edwards said of the upcoming session. “We are going to need someone who has actually been around the block a few times. We don’t want to have newcomers who don’t know the people, the various personalities, and the dynamics of how the system works. I’ve been able to gain that kind of knowledge that will be crucial to make sure our people are represented and protected.”
For more information about Assemblyman Chris Edwards, go to edwards4nevada.com, contact him personally by email at edwardsct@yahoo.com or call him at 702-715-4308.
