Primary debate night features district attorney, District 5 commissioner and county clerk races

Local candidates debated in Pahrump ahead of Nevada’s Republican primary election, making their pitch to voters about why they’re the right person for the job.

“Everybody was very positive and saying this was a great event,” enthused Nye County Republican Club President Joe Burdzinski after debates concluded. “They’re looking forward to our next one.”

The event on Monday, April 20, was the first of two debate nights organized by the Nye County Republican Club. A large crowd of approximately 190 people packed into Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino’s event rooms to hear from incumbents and elected office hopefuls.

Former Nye County commissioner Frank Carbone was the timekeeper for the debates. A Pahrump Valley Times reporter moderated and posed questions to the debaters. None of the evening’s questions were shared with any of the candidates ahead of the debate.

Nye County district attorney debate

Kicking off the debate night was the race for Nye County district attorney with incumbent Republican Brian Kunzi and Republican challenger Michelle Nelson.

“What does being tough on crime look like to ensure public safety?” was one of the questions posed to the DA candidates.

“Tough on crime means supporting your law enforcement to make sure that when they make arrests, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, not put back on the street so that our police officers go out and arrest them again and again and again,” Nelson said in her response.

Kunzi answered the question next, saying, “I have really bridged the gap with the sheriff’s office. We work closely together. We have never had the type of working relationships that we have with the sheriff’s office now. The deputies recognize it. They recognize my management, my ability to get cases done.”

Nye County District 5 commissioner debate

The second debate of the night was the District 5 Commissioner debate with incumbent Republican Debra Strickland, Republican candidate Matt Sadler and Republican candidate Jeff Snow.

“What are some ways county commissioners can be made even more accessible to the public?” was a question asked during the debate.

“The accessibility is super important. I think it’s unacceptable for me, as a public official, if I ever say something at a meeting or to you publicly like, ‘Oh, there are a thousand emails that I haven’t even looked at. There’s this that I haven’t looked at.’ It’s my job to respond to you as a commissioner,” Sadler said.

Snow answered next, saying, “It’s very simple. I think your communication needs to be open. You should sit down, tell people where you’re going to be. I’m going to be in a coffee shop. You want to come down, talk to me. Come talk to me. Don’t sit back and say I’ll call you back.”

“Accessibility, it just takes a phone call,” Strickland told the crowd, adding further. “You find my personal email real easily. You will find me at events. The chili cook-off was one that was recently. I just did one with the Chamber of Commerce. I did the Earth Day event, which was this last weekend.”

Nye County clerk debate

The clerk race closed out the event as the last debate of the evening with incumbent Republican Cori Freidhof, Republican candidate Kayla Ball and Republican candidate Andrew Caccavale.

The clerk candidates sparred with each other on experience, making their cases for why they should lead the clerk’s office, but also agreed on some topics like a statewide voter ID requirement, which they all said they would support, and whether they would support open primaries.

“Absolutely not,” Caccavale responded. “Primaries should remain closed. It’s the way it’s always been. It’s worked. There’s not a problem with that.”

Ball answered next, saying, “I think Nevada should maintain its closed primaries. I think it’s important why we registered with the parties that we can mostly affiliate with.”

Freidhof continued the discussion and explained, “Closed primaries, of course, is something we should have.”

For more information about the Nye County Republican Club, visit its Facebook page under NCRC - Nye County Republican Club or call (775) 764-8085.

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com