2012 Voter Guide: Nevada Assembly District 34

One candidate hopes to end his Assembly career in the seat he has held for 10 years, as his opponent tries to unseat the incumbent while placing his name among the youngest legislators in Silver State history.

So goes the race for Assembly District 34, which pits 50-year-old veteran William Horne against 24-year-old Clark Harrington.

Horne, who first served in 2002, said he is looking forward to being elected to his sixth and final term in the Assembly.

"I enjoy representing my district and having some input in the direction our state is going," he said.

Harrington, whose father, Bill Harrington, was elected to the Assembly in 1994 and served one term, said his age is not a detriment.

"There's never been a more important time for young people to be involved," he said.

Guy Rocha, a Nevada historian and former state archivist, said Harrington would be among the youngest people ever elected to the Legislature.

Rocha said a 21-year-old man was elected to the Assembly in 1894. And in 1921, a 23-year-old woman also began her career in the Assembly.

Although there is a big age difference between the candidates, both said they are longtime Southern Nevadans who are well aware of their district's needs.

Horne moved to the Las Vegas Valley at the age of 7 when his father transferred to Nellis Air Force Base. He graduated from Western High School in 1980, and later from the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Harrington moved to Las Vegas at age 5 and graduated from Bonanza High School. He studied three years at Brigham Young University, Idaho, but didn't graduate.

Harrington said education in the state needs to be improved. He vowed to try to give parents of kindergarten through 12th grade students more choices. He said it's a tragedy that some Southern Nevada residents "don't have opportunities they should have."

He is a proponent of magnet schools to improve parents' choices. He said the state needs to do more to attract businesses, and raising taxes is not how to do it.

Horne also said education in the Silver State needs to improve. He said strengthening education and attracting industry to the state are linked. He wants to diversity the economy.

He gave the example that the mining industry needs more engineers. He said state universities must do better at training engineers and pushing them toward the state's mining industry.

"We're missing the target of what we need to be doing," Horne said. "And that's with an industry that is already here."

Horne voted to support the continuation of the tax increases in the 2011 legislative session.

Harrington said you can't increase taxes and expect to attract business to the state.

Democrats hold a more than 3,000 edge in active registered voters in District 34, but the nearly 5,000 independent voters could tilt the scale.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.