ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 18

If there's one thing they can agree on, it's that they have the same birthday.

Political newcomer and fellow birthday boy Timothy Williams hopes to upset incumbent Democrat Mark Manendo, a seven-term assemblyman making his last run for the southeast valley district seat.

Williams faces a tough battle, having raised less than half as much money as his opponent and being a Republican in a heavily Democratic district.

He said he is running on his anger over two halfway houses that have cropped up in the district and have been a blight in the community.

"It's kind of like everybody brings all of the halfway houses into our district," Williams said. "Not that there's anything wrong with them, but some of them are not run very well."

Manendo said he worked with the owner of the homes to ensure that the people living there were not sex or violent crimes offenders and that they were in a recovery program.

He added that one of the homes is no longer a halfway house and that the other is no longer a problem in the community.

Manendo said his love for his community and availability to his constituents have kept him in office since he was elected first in 1994.

"I work for these people, that's my philosophy," he said.

If re-elected this year, he will not be allowed to run again for the seat because of term limits, but he hopes to run for a state Senate seat in 2010.

Manendo has submitted a bill draft request to prohibit teens from using cell phones when driving, and he said he would like to start discussions on having school buses carry advertising on their sides and on having a state lottery.

To deal with the state's budget crisis, Manendo said he would like to look at and possibly kill some of the state's tax exemptions and enact tolls on new roads.

Williams said he did not have any ideas for balancing the state's budget or dealing with the budget crisis, but he said he did not want to raise taxes.

"I gave up trying to be an expert on everything," he said.

He added that he would like to hire outside experts to investigate government waste in Nevada, including in the Clark County School District.

"There's government programs out there that are obviously bloated," Williams said.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.