2 Democrats face off in Assembly District 21 primary

Democrats David Bagley and Elaine Marzola are running in the June 9 primary. The winner will face off against Republican Cherlyn Arrington in the general election in November.

The 21st District leans Democratic, with Democrats accounting for nearly 40 percent of active voters in March 2019, compared with about 32 percent Republicans, according to state data.

The incumbent, Democratic attorney Ozzie Fumo, is leaving the position to run for the Nevada Supreme Court seat being vacated by retiring Justice Mark Gibbons.

David Bagley

Age: 29

Background: Director of operations for the bio-tech firm Pluripotent Diagnostics LLC and former assistant project manager for Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sen. Jacky Rosen.

Why run and why now?

“I very much love my community and the communities that make up my community in District 21, and I always feel the need to work where I eat, and give back where I take from,” Bagley said.

“Now is the most important time to run, not exactly the best time. I was a homeless youth,” he added. “At 15, I never thought that I would go to school, receive four degrees … and Nevada is last in education. What are we going to do about it?”

What is your primary goal if you could only accomplish one thing in office?

“We need to not only invest money in education, but more importantly we need to invest support, time and human capacity to really overhaul the culture of education that we have here in Nevada and provide a top-notch service for public schools, for the parents, for the students, for our teachers and staff, and that will make us more attractable to outside businesses looking to move to Nevada.”

Response to the coronavirus: “This pandemic has definitely made it eye opening that our state’s linear economy is unsustainable, we need to better diversify our economy, and this has shown where there are holes in the system that we can easily repair with comprehensive, sustainable legislation that attacks the full issue, not just the single issue at hand.”

If it was necessary to cut the budget in response to the coronavirus, what cuts would you make?

“I think it first starts with accountability. I can continue on a long list of areas where we’re losing money, where it’s just misuse, misappropriated, or just simply not being used. It’s really holding the state legislature accountable for the money the state brings in and advocating for more.”

Elaine Marzola

Age: 45

Background: Law firm owner who immigrated to Las Vegas from Brazil when she was 10.

Why run and why now?

“I’m fully here for the residents of Nevada; I want to be in the Legislature so I can help at a greater scale, I have a lot of roots in the community, I was centrally raised here, so was my son and a lot of my family,” Marzola said.

“I know firsthand the issues that many Nevada families face, because I experienced many of them myself. My parents worked very hard to make sure there was food on the table and to make sure my brothers and I were taken care of. As immigrants, it was especially tough; I was the first in my family to graduate college, and I’ve always known that education is so vital.”

Response to the coronavirus?

“We’re going to have to wait to see the full impact of the issues related to coronavirus … We do know that hardworking Nevada families and small businesses are going to need support to get back on their feet, federal aid is going to be really important for Nevada’s recovery, as well as protecting investments made in our schools, health care and working families.”

If it was necessary to cut the budget in response to the coronavirus, what cuts would you make?

Marzola said she would have to wait to decide on specific cuts, but that she preferred to avoid cutting from either education or social services budgets.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.