Assefa facing 2 minor-party challengers in Assembly race
A Libertarian and a nonpartisan are taking on a Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in the race for Assembly District 42.
Democrat Alexander Assefa, first elected in 2018, did not respond to multiple requests by the Las Vegas Review-Journal for an interview. Neither did Sayed “SM” Zaidi, who is not affiliated with a political party.
Assefa’s website says he supports stances like “equality of all people,” equal pay regardless of gender, age or race, affordable health care, paid time off for workers and affordable child care. He makes no specific policy proposals on those issues, though.
He also supports investing in education and giving students access to affordable college, according to his website. His website says he supports attracting businesses, making it easier to start a business, diversifying the economy, and giving Nevadans priority for hiring.
Liz DelSignore, a 26-year-old Libertarian who runs her own digital marketing business, was the only candidate in the race to respond to the newspaper’s request for an interview.
She said the most important issue to her is education.
“Being dead last in the country for education is just not OK,” she said. She said she thinks personal finance should be taught to students.
DelSignore said parents and kids should have a choice on where they attend school, and classes should be tailored to student interests, but offered no concrete education-related policy she backs.
She said she supports policy that provides less government regulation and more of a focus on individual choice.
DelSignore said she wants the state to set up a program that would help veterans adjust to civilian life.
If the state has to make budget cuts to offset the effects of the coronavirus, DelSignore supports cutting infrastructure budgets.
“I like roads being smooth, but we need to put people back to work,” she said.
DelSignore, whose campaign finance reports show she has almost no money, acknowledges she is at a fundraising disadvantage and does not have the benefit of a major party backing her. She said if she is not elected, she would be happy if a few people changed their party affiliation to Libertarian.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.