Al Kramer
With most of Washoe Valley and all of Carson City ballots counted, Al Kramer had a solid lead over Democrat Michael Greedy in the race for Assembly District 40.
A lead of 7,292 at press time gave Kramer 59 percent of the vote and the victory in the race to replace P.K. O’Neill in the seat representing all of Carson City and most of Washoe Valley.
John Wagner, the Independent American candidate, trailed with 2,078 votes.
Kramer thanked voters for their support and credited Greedy with a fair and positive campaign saying the two of them agreed on a surprising number of issues important in the capital.
“I’ve got to respect Greedy,” he said. “He didn’t go negative or anything like that.”
Kramer said one issue he’s concerned about is, if the Marijuana legalization passes, local governments get come control over the regulations implementing it.
“I’m hoping for local control,” he said. “With medical we know who owns those shops in Carson but the way the (question) is written, you’d never know who owns those shops.”
Kramer said his focus will remain centered on economic development and job creation for the state and western Nevada. He said he also wants to hear from Western Nevada College about any legislative changes they need support for.
Kramer said during the campaign his 20 years of experience dealing with the Legislature would help him hit the ground running.
He was Carson City treasurer for 20 years, representing the state’s 17 county treasurers during legislative sessions. Before that and following that tenure, Kramer was a deputy state treasurer, representing that office’s interests before lawmakers.
In all, he said he has testified before 11 sessions of the Legislature.
On economic development, he said the state should focus more on helping existing Nevada businesses expand than on bringing new ones to the state to compete with the companies already here.
He said he would like to see regulations and licensing for new businesses simplified both at the state and local levels. He said the mass of regulations and licensing business must now wade through is a burden “by the time they make the first sale, they’ve got a thousand dollars in it.” He said that’s a big incentive not to open for business.
He said one issue is has changed his position on is the fear Washoe Valley’s available ground water will be over allocated. He said he learned in a town hall Washoe Valley isn’t over appropriated and the county is controlling the issuance of new well permits to make certain it doesn’t end up in the same situation as Pahrump and Smith Valley.
Kramer said there are still changes in Nevada water law that must be made.
“Use it or lose it on water rights has to go,” he said. “That’s something everybody is for so it shouldn’t be too hard to get a bill.”
••• Democrats have reclaimed control of both houses of the Nevada Legislature after suffering devastating losses in the 2014 midterm election. The party won two neck-and-neck southern Nevada Senate contests that helped turn their 10-11 minority last session into an 11-10 majority. Democrats also notched a huge win in the Assembly and could claim 26 or 27 seats in the 42-member chamber. Several Republican incumbents lost seats they’d held in Democratic-leaning districts, including GOP Assembly members Derek Armstrong, David Gardner, Shelly Shelton, Brent Jones and Stephen Silberkraus. Republican-turned Libertarian John Moore also lost. One Assembly race is divided by three votes and is too close to call. While Republicans held a 25-17 majority last session, they will be in the minority by even greater proportions next session.
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