MEET THE CANDIDATES: U.S. Congress District 4

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Republicans have three choices in the upcoming Primary Election race for U.S. Congress District 4 (CD4). The three candidates vying for the opportunity to run against incumbent Democrat Rep. Steven Horsford, include Mesquite resident Annie Black, Las Vegas City Council staffer Chance Bonaventura and Air Force veteran Sam Peters. All three are staunch conservative candidates.

Annie Black
Annie Black, 41, has built a successful career in residential real estate, which she has been growing since first graduating from Bonanza High School. Black is a Las Vegas native, but she moved her family to Mesquite in 2017, seeking a “safer, simpler life” for her two sons.
The following year, Black ran successfully for a Mesquite City Council seat where she served for two years.

In 2020, Black beat incumbent Assemblyman Chris Edwards in the Republican primary election for the District 19 seat. With no general election opponent she was advanced to the seat, representing the conservative district.

In Carson City, Black gained notoriety as a freshman lawmaker for being a hard-line conservative. She spoke out against pandemic health restrictions and mandates put in place by Governor Steve Sisolak insisting that these emergency actions represented government overreach.

When she refused to wear a face mask on the Assembly floor in violation of a standing rule, Black was censured by the body and barred from voting or speaking on the floor.

Black said that one of her top priorities is ensuring the integrity of elections across the country. “One of the top concerns I hear from people is to make sure we have safe and secure elections,” she said. “I definitely would propose a federal voter ID to vote.”

Another top priority for Black is curbing inflation and stabilizing the economy. She attributes these problems to high federal spending and loose monetary policy over the past decade.
“You can’t just print trillions of dollars and pay people to stay out of work for basically two years, and then expect that the value of currency isn’t going to fall,” Black said. “That is just basic economic principles.”
“We need to get our debt down and we need to stop spending so much money,” Black added.

Peters and Bonaventura both expressed similar desires for bringing more fiscal restraint to Washington by cutting government spending, reducing the budget deficit and addressing the high national debt.
Black points out that she is the only candidate in the race with legislative experience.

“I have already had some experience and when I get there I don’t think there is going to be so much on-the-job training required for me as opposed to my other opponents,” Black said. “I have already dealt with establishing my core issues and core values and then knowing, when the pressure is on, where I will hold the line, where I can compromise and where I can’t. I think my record shows that.”

Chance Bonaventura
Chance Bonaventura is a third generation Nevadan who was born and raised in Las Vegas.
Bonaventura, 25, has spent the past ten years playing an active role behind the scenes in Republican party politics in southern Nevada. He served as Field Director for Michelle Fiore on both her assembly campaigns and her successful run for Las Vegas City Council. He has also helped other Republican candidates including Jim Marchant, Dennis Hof and Victoria Seaman.

Bonaventura has worked as Chief of Staff for Fiore for the last five years of her City Council service. In that position, he has learned the importance of successfully advocating for constituents. There have been many instances where Las Vegas residents have contacted Fiore’s office to get help with Veterans

Administration issues, social security problems or other difficulties with federal bureaucracy, he said.
“I go and reach out to our delegation on their behalf trying to help get a resolution,” Bonaventura said. “I never get adequate meaningful responses in a timely manner to help them. That is just a core part of being in Congress. I will have the most transparent and open office where, if you have a problem like that, you won’t be on your own. We will get the answers for you”

Bonaventura believes that it is time for the state of Nevada to take back ownership of the more than 70 percent of its lands being managed by the federal government.
“Right now, other states: New York, California, North Carolina and others; are voting on how we manage our state lands because the feds own them,” Bonaventura said. “But the complex issues of land management are going to be much better addressed by the state legislature where we know and understand the issues.”

Both Peters and Black expressed similar views about returning federal land back into state control.
Bonaventura also believes that the federal government should have no involvement in gun rights and ownership restrictions.

“Personally, I wish we had Constitutional carry,” he said. “But as a federal representative, I don’t think that federal law should be involved in doing a blanket approach for the whole nation; for or against. There is no Constitutional authority to do a national blanket regulation.”
Black and Peters have both also been outspoken proponents of 2nd Amendment rights.

Sam Peters
Sam Peters, 47, has served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. His service included combat support in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well as tours in Panama and Korea. He retired in 2013 after earning a Bronze Star for actions in Afghanistan.

Peters is currently the owner of Peters Family Insurance with two store-front locations in Las Vegas.
Peters is a graduate of the U.S. Air Forces Squadron Officer School and Air Command and Staff College. He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration and a Masters of Science in Administration.

In 2020, Peters ran for the CD4 seat amidst a crowded Republican Primary Election. He fell short in that election by about 2,000 votes.

Peters said that the top three issues of his campaign are illegal immigration, national debt/spending and government overreach.
“Things are out of control at the border,” he said of the immigration problem. “We are hearing that 2 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border into our country last year; and that is just those we know about. They are trafficking people, trafficking narcotics. The effects of that are compounding significantly throughout our society. And we are seeing that happen. We have to get a handle on it!”
Both Bonaventura and Black also agreed with the need to secure the borders.

Black added that immigration reform legislation was also needed to better open the path for the many people who are wanting to immigrate to the U.S. legally. “We want those people,” she said. “They want to be successful and be a part of our society. We need to make sure that they can come legally and get in.”

In the area of all three of his main campaign issues, Peters said that the contrast between the conservative principles of the preceding administration and those of the current one are stark.
“Comparing just two years ago to now and it is incredible to see the difference,” Peters said. “Every time we turn around, there is another policy coming out of the administration which Steven Horsford is endorsing and supporting full on. These are crashing our economy, crushing our way of life and giving away our country’s resources.”

In his campaign activities, Peters said he has noted common ground among all different political affiliations in the district.
“No matter whether they are Republican, Democrat or something else, they are not happy with how they are being represented – or quite frankly, not being represented,” Peters said. “Things like inflation, job market, product shortages: these are not partisan issues. People are just not pleased with how the government is treating our country.”