Republican candidates make their pitches for votes in 2010

Republican candidates for 2010 elections dished up a heaping helping of conservative red meat for voters Wednesday at a forum in Summerlin.

The forum, sponsored by the Sun City Conservatives, drew more than 100 voters who wanted to hear candidates for the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and the state Legislature.

Congressional candidates on stage included: Danny Tarkanian, one of as many as 10 Republicans seeking to challenge for the seat held by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Joe Heck, one of three Republicans seeking to challenge Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.; and Joseph Tatner, who wants to challenge Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., but whose official campaign paperwork isn't yet posted on the Federal Election Commission Web site.

Mike Montandon, one of three Republicans seeking the gubernatorial nomination, and incumbent Republican Assemblymen John Hambrick and Richard McArthur, both of Las Vegas, were also on stage.

Candidates spent much of the two-hour event at the Summerlin Library urging audience members to volunteer to register as many Republican voters as possible.

"The left is hard at work trying to dismantle our system bit by bit," Tarkanian said. "And right now there are just not enough conservatives to stop them."

Among the policy topics were gun rights, health care and defense of the Constitution.

Several attendees asked Tarkanian about his position on gun rights. They were particularly concerned about Tarkanian's 2006 campaign for secretary of state in which the Brady Campaign, a special interest group that favors gun control, made calls urging voters to support him.

Tarkanian said he didn't solicit the support and didn't know about the calls until they had been made. He said he is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. He also told one woman who said she was shopping for a gun to use for protection: "I hope you get a big gun and scare everyone off."

Tatner said he was running for Congress "to stop the bankruptcy and destruction of the United States of America."

He carried a copy of the Constitution and spoke loudly throughout his speech.

"If my loudness offends any of you I'm sorry, but I'm not being quiet," Tatner said. "I'm known for my fiery rhetoric, and I'm proud of that."

Heck accused Democrats of undermining the free market economy of the United States.

"They have taken it; they have perverted it," he said.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.