2012 Voter Guide: Nevada Senate District 11

No matter what happens in the race for state Senate District 11 in Clark County, the winner will be a new voice in Carson City.

Neither Democrat Aaron Ford nor Republican John Drake has served in elected office before and they are seeking to fill the seat that longtime Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Las Vegas, had controlled since 1996.

The outcome will not only affect voters in the district but also the balance of power in a narrowly divided Senate.

Based on data that show active registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the district by more than 8,000, with almost 8,000 nonpartisans, the race is Ford's to lose.

In 2010 Ford ran and lost a race against state Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, before moving to District 11 to make another run for office.

He said his top priorities if elected would be for the Legislature to improve education and the economy.

Ford said Nevada schools need more funding if they are going to be more effective.

"It means we are going to have to take a hard look at our current tax revenue system and reform it so schools and other social services are adequately funded," Ford said.

He also supports legislation he said would improve accountability in schools, such as tying attendance to state services, such as getting a driver's license.

"If you are truant, you don't get your license; if you have one, you get it suspended," he said.

On the economy, Ford said the state should offer incentives to lure alternative energy and technology firms into Nevada.

He also said the state should consider a broad-based business tax to reduce dependency on gambling and mining taxes, which are prone to fluctuate as the economy moves, even if the new tax increases revenue.

"I think we need to have conversations about ways we can make the taxing system more equitable," Ford said. "If it results in more in taxes, so be it."

Drake said his top priority in office would be making changes to Nevada's Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS.

He said the system is underfunded by $4.1 billion and the hole is getting deeper. That's because the system is not getting the same kind of return on its investment portfolio that it did when the economy was better.

Drake also said that as public sector employment stagnates or shrinks, there are fewer new workers paying in to support retired workers, who are also living longer after retirement.

"To revamp the PERS would save the state millions if not billions of dollars of potential liability out there," Drake said.

He said one way to improve the stability of the system would be to require workers to pay more into the investment pool.

In addition to dealing with public employee retirement, Drake said he would like to see the proposed nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain put to use.

Although most political officials in the state, including Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, adamantly oppose storing nuclear waste at the site, Drake said using it could be an opportunity for economic development.

"I think it would create jobs for the state of Nevada and it would create revenue at the same time," he said.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.