Nevada Assemblyman Hafen receives conservative achievement award

The American Conservative Union Foundation’s 2019 ratings have been released and top conservatives from the state of Nevada were honored with awards during the foundation’s recent inaugural CPAC West conference, hosted Sept. 13 in Reno.

Nevada Assemblyman Greg Hafen II, R-Pahrump, was among the lawmakers who were judged by the foundation to have displayed the highest percentage of conservative principles in their votes throughout the 2019 legislative session.

“The American Conservative Union Foundation, host of the Conservative Political Action Conference, has just released its ratings of the 2019 meeting of the Nevada State Assembly. ACUF’s Ratings of Congress and Ratings of the States are initiatives of ACUF’s Center for Legislative Accountability,” information from the organization explained. “These ratings are designed to reflect how over 8,000 elected officials across the nation view the role of government while illustrating the differences between chambers of the Legislature and revealing lawmakers’ positions on a wide variety of issues that directly affect Nevadans.”

In an extensively detailed document comprising the state’s 2019 ratings, the foundation gave Hafen an 80% conservative score, earning him the foundation’s second-highest award, that for conservative achievement.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as one of the top five conservatives in the entire state of Nevada by the American Conservative Union Foundation’s Center for Legislative Accountability,” Hafen wrote in a tweet after learning of the award. “Thank you.”

Hafen has publicly announced his intention to run for election to the District 36 seat which he currently holds by appointment.

Hafen was appointed as Nevada District 36 assemblyman as a replacement for the posthumously elected Dennis Hof, who passed away in October 2018 just weeks before winning the general election. Thus far, the only person to announce that they will challenge Hafen in the 2020 Republican primary is former Assembly District 36 candidate Dr. Joseph Bradley.

Other Nevada Assembly members who earned a conservative score of 80-89% include Chris Edwards, John Ellison, Alexis Hansen, Al Kramer, Robin Titus and Jim Wheeler.

While the American Conservative Union Foundation may have presented awards to several Nevada lawmakers that evening, it was not all good news from the organization. There were no legislators who earned the foundation’s highest award this year, that for conservative excellence and in a news release, the foundation also shed light on its negative opinion of the direction the state, which is currently controlled by the Democratic Party, has been taking as a whole.

“The Nevada State Assembly’s overall conservative score fell by more than 20 percentage points compared to the previous session (from 49.70% to 28.33%),” the news release read. Additionally, no Nevada senator, Republican or otherwise, scored high enough to earn themselves an award from the foundation, with the overall state Senate’s conservative score coming in at just 28%.

“Despite California’s many economic problems, not to mention a record number of families leaving the Golden State, liberal lawmakers of the Nevada State Assembly seem to be replicating California’s failed far-left policies,” ACUF Chairman Matt Schlapp was quoted as stating. “From job-killing, one-size-fits-all mandates on small businesses to the socialization of solar energy costs, liberal Nevada lawmakers have started down a dangerous path of economic disaster. We urge the Nevada State Assembly to give everyday workers a chance at success by eliminating burdensome and unnecessary government intervention.”

To view any of the foundation’s 2019 ratings visit acuratings.conservative.org

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com