Assembly District 29

Voters in Assembly District 29 might feel a bit of deja vu when they head to the polls this primary season, as the candidates are the same as those who ran in 2014.

Republicans in the district will again choose between Stephen Silberkraus and Amy Groves. Democrat Lesley Cohen, a Henderson lawyer, faces no opposition in the primary and will again represent the party in the general election.

Cohen was the incumbent candidate in 2014, although she was not elected to the seat. The Clark County Commission appointed her to the position after April Mastroluca resigned for family reasons.

Silberkraus defeated Groves by more than 20 percentage points in the 2014 primary before unseating Cohen in the general election.

Silberkraus said he wants to reform and bring more oversight to the Nevada System of Higher Education, especially after recent revelations that officials worked to undermine the Legislature’s effort to overhaul the college and university funding models.

“There are systemic and fundamental problems that have to be addressed,” he said.

Silberkraus favored breaking up the Clark County School District and said he’d like to see school principals regain some control over the curriculum.

Groves said she believes the primary election gap — which equated to about 500 voters — has closed after Silberkraus voted in favor of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s controversial $1.5 billion tax package in the 2015 Legislature, called the biggest in state history. Groves said she is part of the push to repeal the tax.

Groves said she opposes increasing taxes and would fight against requiring background checks for private firearm sales, a reference to Question 1 on the November ballot.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.