Former nurse, military vet vying for Assembly District 17 seat

It’s a two-person race for the Republican nod for the vacant Assembly District 17 seat with Sylvia Liberty Creviston facing off with Jack Polcyn.

The Republican winner of the primary election will go on to face Democratic nominee Clara “Claire” Thomas in November’s general election for the North Las Vegas seat.

The 17th District seat is open following the death of incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson during the 2019 legislative session. Thompson was serving his third term.

Creviston, 60, has a number of goals if elected, including health care reform in the state, but none larger than figuring out how to keep track of new Nevada residents who skip registering their vehicles with the state.

Creviston, a lifelong Las Vegas resident, said some of her neighbors have had out-of-state plates for several years after relocating to Southern Nevada.

“I would like to create legislation where you can call in and say, ‘Hey, my neighbor has had the same plates for two years,’ that type of thing,” Creviston said. “We could literally go out and investigate. There’s a lot of things important to me being born and raised in Las Vegas, but that is such an issue and it’s costing us so much money that we could be helping with other issues. Fixing that issue will help us get a lot more funding to look at a lot of other things as well.”

Polcyn, 63, decided to run for the seat after becoming tired of politics at all levels of government.

“There’s too much partisanship, and we’ve got a leader who is turning the country around and doing great things, and I wanted to try and help out on a state level,” Polcyn said.

Polcyn said his military background will be useful with finding common ground with those in the Legislature with differing views.

“I was a platoon sergeant tank commander in the Army for 10 years, then I worked in federal law enforcement for about eight years and dealt with people in all different circumstances, especially in the military where you’ve gotta work together to get anywhere,” Polcyn said. “I’ve had a lot of experience in that aspect.”

Creviston would rely on her 25 years of experience gained as a nurse in Las Vegas to work with a variety of Assembly members and senators to make vital decisions for the state.

“I’m a people person; I have a lot of soft people skills,” Creviston said. “I’ve functioned a lot with emotional intelligence.

“I push for quality communications at all times. I don’t take a lot of things personal. Being in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit), parents can be pretty upset because their kid is critically ill and they can sometimes say things to you and it’s not about you,” she added. “When I’m negotiating with somebody, it’s not about me. Emotional intelligence is what do we need to do to get to the goal that we’re trying to accomplish.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.