2012 PRIMARY ELECTION: ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 20

The race for Assembly District 20 is wide open, with the incumbent pushed out by redistricting.

Five candidates, including three Democrats and two Republicans, are running in the primary. The top candidate from each party will advance to the general election.

The five include a state education official, an attorney, a real estate agent, a business consultant and a nightclub host.

REPUBLICANS

Eric Mendoza is a real estate agent and office manager. He said his 37 years in Las Vegas give him an edge in that he understands the city better than most.

He is running because he wants change.

"Instead of complaining about it, I just figured I'd try to do something about it," Mendoza said.

Education and jobs are his top priorities. He said the state's workforce is undereducated. He would gather information before deciding how to fix that problem.

He said one option to fix ailing schools might be to shrink the Clark County School District, one of the nation's largest. He said the bureaucracy is the problem, not budget cuts.

"I don't think more money is the problem," he said.

He did say that teachers probably aren't paid enough and class sizes are too large, however.

Daniel Stakleff called himself "conservative to the core." He is a junior host at the Bank nightclub at Bellagio.

He said he has followed politics closely for a while.

"These past years, as the economy turned bad, I started wanting to educate myself," he said. "It's disheartening what's going on."

He said he would support lowering taxes. "In my mind, taxes are stealing," he said.

He clarified that not all taxes are stealing, just the income tax. Nevada does not have an income tax, but he said that perhaps the state government could "push" the federal government to lower them.

A top priority would be jobs, he said. He would loosen regulations.

"If you lower taxes and loosen regulations, the free market will work itself out," he said.

DEMOCRATS

Kent L. Ivey is an attorney who said he practices primarily in bankruptcy and real estate law.

When the seat for District 20 came open, he said he was immediately interested.

"I wanted to get a different voice heard," Ivey said.

He said his top priorities would be jobs, education, housing and health care.

He said education should be the last thing cut when government budgets shrink. He wants to expand GED programs because Nevada has such a high dropout rate, and said that perhaps online options should be explored.

He said the state needs to recruit more business, perhaps by offering tax incentives.

The state also should add more teeth to laws governing the foreclosure process to encourage banks to engage in mediation, he said.

Ellen Spiegel served in the Legislature from 2008 until 2010, when she lost her bid for re-election. Redistricting put her in a new district this time.

She owns a consulting business that focuses primarily on workers compensation issues.

She said the economy is the biggest issue facing Nevada.

"My No. 1 priority is helping to address our state's economic needs," she said.

She wants to make it easier for businesses to succeed in Nevada by "streamlining business procedures and paperwork," she said.

She also said the state's higher education system needs to be strengthened so the young and talented do not leave Nevada to go to other colleges. That could be done by making the system more efficient and by focusing more on online courses in rural areas, she said.

Gloria Bonaventura did not return messages seeking comment for this story. She is a member of the State Board of Education.

"I am a lifelong Democrat and I believe that I can better serve our community as a member of the Nevada State Assembly," she wrote on her website.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.