ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 19

At age 17, Nicholas Thomas "Nick" Daka thought to himself, "One day, I'll run for office.''

Now, five years later, Daka, a political science and sociology major at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas finds himself running for Nevada's Assembly District 19 seat. Daka, a Republican, is running against Democrat Jerry D. Claborn.

"He's pretty much been given a free pass on the ballot,'' Daka said about Claborn's time in the Assembly. "I'm running to give citizens a different voice. ... I don't like to impose on people certain types of government like my opponent.''

Daka also does not favor tax increases and thinks that designating certain parts of Interstate 15 as a toll road, especially the section coming into the Las Vegas Valley from California, could generate funding for Nevada.

Daka did not know how much money would be generated from such an endeavor.

"I'm not an accountant,'' he said. "But I believe it would generate enough to fix road problems and things like that. That would be positive.''

Claborn, on the other hand, does not understand how the state is going to fix its economy without raising taxes.

"We're in a world of hurt. We can't do anything without any money,'' he said. "We need a new tax structure, but getting to that point, lawmakers have to work together. ... If we want to help this economy, get people back to work and fix our streets and highways, Democrats and Republicans have to work together.''

Although fixing the state's budget is his main priority if re-elected, Claborn said some issues in the district need to be addressed. He said crime rates continue to rise.

"We're having a lot of robberies in this district,'' Claborn said. "We need better police enforcement and, just like the state as a whole, the Police Department doesn't have the funding to hire more people.''

Claborn, who has been in office since 1998, also said the state's educational system needs to be fixed.

Both Claborn and Daka said they are concerned about the number of foreclosures in their district. Daka said he would try to propose a law that would freeze interest rates.

Contact reporter Annette Wells at awells@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.