Assembly District 27 spans old southwest Reno, northwest to Somersett and a large portion of northern Washoe County communities. There are two Republican candidates in this Primary race – Rodney Bloom did not respond to this interview.
1. Give a brief summation of your professional and political background.
Professional Background – I am a retired soldier. I served in combat in Panama and Iraq, supported the CIA in Central America, helped remove the dictator in Haiti, spent about four years in counter drug operations in South America. I helped build schools in Latin America, dig wells, and teach school children in their native Spanish language personal hygiene and other life essentials. I additionally served at two and three star general officer commands as an Operations Sergeant and Protocol Sergeant. From the strategic levels I served in U.S. Embassies throughout South America, the Central America region, and the Caribbean.
Post military – I served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Contract Specialist, the National Park Service as a Contracting Officer, and the Bureau of Land Management as a Business and Program Analyst. I resigned my position in federal government to run for public office.
Political Background – I am and always have been a Constitutional Conservative.
2. Define your district – geographic boundaries, demographic makeup, and political balance.
Assembly District 27 comprises portions of Old Southwest Reno, Northwest Reno, Somersett, Northwest Suburban, a large portion of northern Reno, Panther Valley, Raleigh Heights, Golden Valley, North Valleys, and extending east through Sun Valley. The Assembly District spans the socio-economic spectrum from affluent to poverty with some persons living in dilapidated RVs using tarps for roofs. The demographics are primarily Caucasian, then Hispanics with a small percentage of African Americans, and Asians. The political balance shows that Democrats have an 8 point lead in voter registration with a breakdown of 42% Democrat; 34% Republican; 19% Non-Partisan; and the remainder has declared as other minority parties.
3. If this is your first time running for office (or this position), why are you running for this position? If you are an incumbent, what have been your top accomplishments as a legislator?
This is my first time running for any elected position. I have always been a soldier and government employee. I’m running for office because our Liberal incumbent Mrs. Theresa Benitez-Thompson doesn’t understand how government is supposed to work. It’s not like a beauty pageant where the system is top-down with kings and queens. When you are elected to a public office, you are supposed to represent the people who voted for you; in a Republic such as ours, it’s a bottom-up approach. Our Liberal incumbent marches in-step with Barack Obama and Harry Reid, accepting a top-down approach which is unacceptable in a Republic.
I’m highly disturbed by the subversion of our U.S. Constitution which is taking place in our White House, how Liberals in the Senate such as Reid support this subversion, and how Liberals at the state level mindlessly go along with what they are told to do, and vote the way they are told to vote. I’m running for office to give Nevadans the professional and ethical public servant they deserve, someone who will defend the Constitution of the United States, someone who believes in Conservative free thought rather than Liberal group think; someone who will represent Nevadans’ Conservative nature and never bend to Liberal pressure.
4. What makes you more qualified to serve in this position than your opponent?
I have two opponents, one in the primary and the second in the general election and it helps to understand both of my opponents before explaining why I’m more qualified:
Primary Opponent Mr. Rodney Bloom – Bloom won’t put up a website to give people the opportunity to vet him. Bloom’s CV consists of being a union member and sheet metal worker. He goes on to explain that he’s always been a Democrat and has always voted Democrat, but now suddenly he wants to be a Republican and run as a Republican. When Bloom does speak, in a union leader tone, he simply claims to be the best candidate, but won’t rationalize this claim with any substance; it’s like hearing Nancy Pelosi say you have to “vote for it to find out what’s in it.”
General Election Opponent Mrs. Theresa Benitez-Thompson – Benitez-Thompson does have a website; in her pictures she sits and smiles at people and people sit and smile back at her. This sitting and smiling may be why she hasn’t accomplished anything beneficial for the people in Northern Nevada. Benitez-Thompson has a degree in Social Work. She is largely endorsed by and funded by elements from Las Vegas; even accepting money from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce which should lead everyone to wonder who she really represents. Benitez-Thompson has never seen a tax she didn’t like and voted to have yearly Legislative sessions which would increase our taxes even more. When the Big Gulp-banning billionaire New York Mayor Bloomberg tried to buy a gun control law in Nevada, Benitez-Thompson was right there voting against our 2nd Amendment. Mrs. Benitez-Thompson is a mother of three young children—this results in a very busy personal life, and she will soon have her fourth child. Mrs. Benitez-Thompson missed half a Legislative session because of her busy personal life, which is about to become even busier. A representative should be present for duty 100% of the time; that’s what Nevadans deserve.
Why I’m better qualified to serve as Assemblyman for District 27? I encourage everyone to visit my website and vet me themselves; it’s http://ElectRexCrouch.com.
• My education consists of two Bachelors of Science, one in Geology and the second in Technical Communication, and one Master of Science is in Business Management.
• I have extensive work experience in federal government from the Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Park Service (NPS), to Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As such, I can succinctly discuss in detail how the federal government uses and exploits 87% our state.
• From energy issues regarding solar energy fields to wind farms to geothermal, I am well versed. From mineral exploration, mining, and mining laws, I am experienced and even certified in the fields. In the subjects of natural resources, I can address in detail the issues surrounding water, water rights, grazing lands, and wildlife from sage grouse to wild horses.
• I’m certified by the federal Government in fiscal law and government contracting.
• The state’s demographics have changed dramatically as well with nearly 1 in 4 voters being Hispanic. I have lived in Central and South America four about eight years and understand the Latino culture better most, a la Señora Benitez-Thompson; ni siquiera estoy seguro de si ella habla Español, o no.
• Additionally, there is nothing in my personal life that would prevent me from representing the voters 100% of the time, and I would only represent ALL of the voters in northwest Reno Assembly District 27, not the special interests of Las Vegas.
5. There is a well-publicized, on-going philosophical split among many in the Republican Party. Describe your political philosophy in relation to this ‘moderate’ conservative versus ‘tea party’ conservative divide.
This “philosophical” split, or perhaps repair, that is happening in the Republican Party can’t truly be discussed without discussing what’s happening to the Democrat Party as well.
The Liberals who are taking over the Democrat Party are not Democrats; these Liberals don’t represent the same values as true Democrats. A good Democrat leader like John F. Kennedy would say “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” If Barack Obama had to use these same words, it would come out as “Don’t ask what you can do for your country, but ask what your country can do for you.” These Liberals are bent on making people more beholden to the Government thus forcing our country into socialism and worse as the Government is now spying on us while using the Department of Homeland Security to oppress us.
The split mentioned in the Republican Party is a result of our established leadership believing they have to drift left to capture the votes of people who want more Government control disguised as charity. The people you call TEA Party or Constitutional Conservatives such as myself, we haven’t split away, we simply haven’t moved; it’s the leadership which is splitting away from us, and I say Good Riddance!
But going door-to-door and speaking with people as I campaign, I have learned that the split is now happening in the Democrat Party as well. There are a lot of good Constitution-respecting, gun-owning Democrats who now recognize that the Liberals, who are grabbing for their guns, are not Democrats. These Democrats are disgusted by what the Liberals are doing to their country. These Democrats know that the 2nd Amendment belongs to them too, they are disappointed by the Liberal Obama leadership and the freedom-hating Liberals who follow him, and they’re outraged that
Government has become a top-down institution. We can expect a recoil from these informed Democrats in 2014. For these freedom-loving Democrats, it’s time to set Party loyalty aside and be loyal to the U.S. Constitution; it’s time to clean the Liberals out of their Democrat Party by voting for Constitutional Conservatives like myself.
6. What do you see as the three most important issues related to your district?
The three most important issues for Assembly District 27 are all directly linked together:
A. Jobs – We have numerous empty industrial buildings in Assembly District 27 which could be put to work and used to employ the people in the area. There are companies such as Remington which don’t have any ammunition manufacturing plants in the west and we have the infrastructure to accommodate them right now but…
B. Taxes – We have a ballot measure called the Margins Tax. This Margin Tax is disguised on the ballot as the “Education Initiative.” While it sounds like it’s for education, there is no evidence that the funds will go to education. This Margins Tax is a 2% tax on the gross of the business; before you pay the employees, before you pay for your overhead, before you realize a profit, you have to pay a 2% tax. That could leave a company without enough money to pay their employees. We can’t entice companies to come to the Assembly District or even Nevada if we’re going to make it the 5th highest taxed state in the country. Without good businesses, we will be stuck with ObamaCare.
C. Healthcare – By stopping oppressive taxation, we can entice industries to Nevada. Industries besides, tourism, gaming, and mining, and create good jobs with employers who have good healthcare programs rather than increasing the Medicaid rolls under the failed ObamaCare law, supported in Nevada by Benitez-Thompson, which was passed without one Republican vote.
By addressing these three issues, we can best take care of all Nevadans.
7. As a legislator, you are allowed to present a specific number of bills during the legislative session. Do you have any specific bills in mind?
While I’m more interested in repealing laws than creating laws, there are a couple I would like to see first, not a Bill but rather a Resolution- A Resolution that all Bills presented to the Assembly contain a preamble explaining how the Bill complies with the Constitution.
• Repeal of NRS 695i, the Nevada Healthcare Exchange (ObamaCare in Nevada).
• A Bill to nullify any federal law within the state boundaries which encroaches on the American Bill of Rights. While Liberals like Mrs. Benitez-Thompson in the Legislature are looking for ways to further oppress Nevadans with more taxes, Conservatives such as myself are looking for ways to protect Nevada from Federal Government oppression.
• A Bill requiring voter ID. The only people who oppose a Voter ID law are those who apparently can’t get elected without election fraud. In Assembly District 27 I have found that 8% of all Democrats on the voting rolls over the age of 87 are dead. Of those who were dead, 40% had been dead for more than two election cycles and still not removed from the rolls.
I did this by sorting the list of registered voters, by Democrat, then by age, entering the name of each Democrat into the Social Security Death Index. When the name of the voter, location by city, and date of birth from the voting rolls matched the name, city, and date of birth in the Social Security Death Index, that was documented a dead Democrat voter.
Election Fraud is very real. We now know that two election workers in Indiana have plead guilty to forging more than 130 signatures onto petitions to get Barack Obama onto the Presidential Ballot in 2008—that Barack Obama should not have even been on the 2008 ballot. Here in Assembly District 27, Mrs. Benitez-Thompson’s 2012 victory is considered suspect. If an actual autopsy of that election were to be conducted, fraud may very well be found. Once a person is elected by election fraud, it’s too late to go back. The fraud has to be stopped before it happens; herein we need a voter ID law to protect the integrity of our election process.
• A Bill to amend NRS 533 (Water Rights) to stop any further inter-basin transfers of water. When Lake Mead was built, the city of Las Vegas had a population of about 25,000 people. Today, the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson exceed 1,000,000 people. Today Lake Mead is 100’ low and, drought or not, Clark County is no longer environmentally and socially sustainable.
Today, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is in possession of a Right of Way (ROW) granted by the BLM in April 2013 to build a 200-plus mile pipeline, 8 feet in diameter, to pump ground water from northern Nevada to Las Vegas. The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) has demonstrated that the pipeline will cause harm to the environment. It doesn’t matter to the Liberals, in Las Vegas, if this water pipeline is immoral and harmful; destined to cause several species of fish and snails to go extinct, deprive Wild Horses and Burros of water; as long as it’s legal they’re going to do it.
To learn more about this project, visit my issue website at http://NevadaCommonSense.org. When you understand what Las Vegas is trying to do with water in Nevada, then you understand why Las Vegas is putting Assembly persons from Northern Nevada like Mrs. Benitez-Thompson in their pockets. When you understand how the unions based in Las Vegas will benefit from a large construction job, then you understand why the unions are endorsing this project and supporting Mrs. Benitez-Thompson. Just accepting an endorsement or funding from a union which supports this project shows where you really stand on the environment.
We need to amend this law to ensure that Northern Nevada water sources can provide for future generations, both human and wildlife.
8. What is your position in regards to the taxes imposed in 2009 that were to ‘sunset’ in 2011, but were re-approved by the 2011 and 2013 legislature?
First and foremost, I’ve signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge; no new taxes, let’s find ways of efficiently using the current taxes and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
Wisconsin, through good Conservative leadership did it and now has 1 billion in surplus. Back to the re-approved taxes, there was a strong concern that the state budget would be harmed if the taxes were allowed to Sunset. My position is – A Sage Commission, similar to one conducted by Govern Gibbons, should have been formed, and still should be formed, to achieve what Wisconsin achieved. I was disappointed that the tax was renewed.
9. How would you address improving the performance of Nevada’s public schools?
We need to get rid of Common Core—or whatever name they are calling it this week, in Nevada. In New York where Common Core was first fielded, the President of the Teachers’ Union is now saying that “Common Core is child abuse.” Doctors are now diagnosing children with “Common Core Syndrome.” How could this possibly be good? In addition to an intrusive data collection scheme on the child and the family, Common Core teaches that the Government is family. Common Core also removes cursive writing and introduces text books which modifies what the Constitution says to further Liberal philosophical positions. Unless you can read the Constitution or other historical documents in their native script, that being cursive, then you can’t challenge your text books. Common Core dumbs down math, and parents today can’t help their children because of the way math is taught. Common Core is not about making our children exceptional, it’s about making our children common. I find it absolutely bewildering how a loving mother like Mrs. Benitez-Thompson can continue to support the Liberal agenda which requires an indoctrination education system that has been deemed to be “Child Abuse.” What do people like this care more about? Liberalism or their children?
To truly resolve the education problem in Nevada? We need to introduce a coherent education system controlled by the state and the parents, not the federal Government. Lowering our graduation requirements with Common Core to make it look like we are graduating more kids will never truly resolve the problem.
If more money at the local level is the solution, we as a country need to demand that the Department of Education be disbanded and the money, which comes from our tax dollars then budgeted to the Department of Education should stay in Nevada. Before 1979, there was no Department of Education, and our school system was capable of producing the scientists and engineers necessary to put Americans on the Moon. American schoolteachers were very well paid, and our colleges were affordable. I think we can do better without the useless parasite organization known as the Department of Education, and teachers would have even more money in their pockets if they would simply dispose of their unions.
10. To what degree should the State support Charter Schools and those students opting to attend a school outside their district? Do you support universal school vouchers, providing the money goes to the student/parent and not to any particular school?
Yes, I support Charter schools, private schools, and home schools. I believe parents should choose where their children go to school, if it’s in another district, it’s the parent’s responsibility to get the child there.
Yes, I support the universal voucher program for Charter schools. It gets the Government out of controlling the education and puts the education decisions in the hands of the parents, where it belongs.
11. The State Legislature has found innovative ways to circumvent the state law banning the passing down of unfunded mandates to local governing entities. What is your position in regards to using such actions to fund state needs?
If a mandate has a financial burden associated with it, there should be commensurate appropriations. I signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge so it won’t get past me. Bills like AB 46, a measure to by-pass education funding at the state level and pushing it down to the county, which was supported by Mrs. Benitez-Thompson, was a violation of the Nevada State Constitution, Article 11, Section 6.
12. What is your position in regards to increasing Nevada’s minimum wage?
If you increase minimum wage, it’s still minimum wage. While the idea appeals to those who haven’t thought it through, the reality of increasing the minimum wage is: the price of everything will go up commensurate with the increase in wages, the recipient of the new minimum wage will find themselves paying more in federal taxes and more in social security. Producing products will cost more because the assembly persons and drivers will be paid more. The increased cost of products results in more sales taxes paid at the register at check out. Increasing the minimum wage is a win-win situation for the Government with an increase in the amount of taxes received, but for the person at the bottom rung of the ladder… it’s still minimum wage. When people talk about “Income inequality” and “Redistributing the Wealth,” remember that’s something Karl Marx spoke about and supported too. It doesn’t make the poor people richer, it makes the middle class poorer, resolving the income inequality, creating a one class society leaving the wealthy and political elite unaffected and controlling the poor.
If you don’t want to earn minimum wage, learn a trade, a skill, or profession.
Additionally, prevailing wages in Nevada need to be reformed more so than minimum wage. The prevailing wages for government contracts may take a tradesman who earns $20.00 per hour on a civilian project and require that the tradesman receive $70.00 per hour while working on the a state government contract. This is the state trying to follow the Davis Bacon Act which only applies to federal government contracts, not state level contracts.
13. Do you believe the gaming and mining industries pay ‘their fair share’ in contributing to the state’s economy? Explain.
“Their fair share.” If it were not for the gaming and mining industries what would Nevada’s economy be? Better questions: Why do the Liberals want to tax and oppress our economy out of the state? Why is this undefined “fair share” always used by the Liberals?
14. With annual approval by Congress required, the Federal government pays state and local governments for the public lands (exempt from local taxation) within their jurisdiction (P.I.L.T.). Approximately 87-percent of Nevada is owned by Federal entities. Define your position in regards to states taking control of (Federal government relinquishing ownership to) all or a portion of these lands.
The Federal Government does control 87% of Nevada. The reason this happened, which is an enigma, is because Nevada entered the Union as the Civil War was kicking off; hence the nick-name “Battle Born.” The due process of entering the Union was never completed in congress because of the Civil War and subsequently, the state is still mostly controlled by the federal Government.
Most states in the Union are federally controlled at about the 3% level, which is fine. This includes National Monuments, Parks, and things we want to preserve as American for all Americans. With proper consideration given to the Washoe, Shoshone, and Paiute tribes, the “public” lands; Yucca Mountain, which we can put to work as a State, and a portion of the Test Site, which may be mineral rich; need to be transferred over to the State of Nevada. This transfer must include infrastructure such as power transmissions lines as well, which Buffet will not get.
We need to finish what we started in 1864. Making this happen requires a legislature with a strong background in federal lands and federal laws, rather than social workers who sit and smile at people, who can’t make it to work when the legislative session calls.
Touching on Yucca Mountain again, the storage of nuclear waste is actually very safe, its solidified and containerized in ceramic. The images of nuclear sludge leaking out of drums is the picture the Liberals paint, but it far from the truth. What you don’t hear from the Liberals is how employing Yucca Mountain would result in 10,000 new jobs in Nevada. Why do the Liberals want to prevent Nevadans from finding good paying job with good benefits? Why do the Liberals want to keep people on unemployment and beholden to the Government?
15. In 1979 Nevada passed a bill legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. It was repealed eight years later (1987). What is your position in regards to Nevada once again legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes? Legalizing the sale of marijuana, period?
I am a Constitutional Conservative which means I am about FREEDOM; Liberals are about banning this and banning that- thus OPPRESSING the people. I really don’t care if people use marijuana; but it needs to be used in a responsible manner; treat it like any other impairment such as alcohol.
16. It appears that millions of acres of Nevada lands are destined to have the sage grouse (among other species) listed as a protected species. What is your position in regards to this issue? Explain.
Sage Grouse are not endangered or threated! What is threatened is the Sage Grouse habitat. Federal government biologists propagate a lot of disinformation about Sage Grouse and Sage Grouse behavior. The reason the Sage Grouse habitat is threated can be squarely placed on the BLM at two levels:
• Level One – The BLM fire section would rather fight fires than conduct fuel management. If proper fuel management was conducted, such as the removal of dead Sage Brush and other burnable materials, and the clearing of fire breaks were maintained, then wildfires would not be allowed to consume Sage Grouse habitat in the manner we have recently seen it consumed.
• Level Two – Wild Horses- as much as we love our Wild Horses, they are an “invasive species” and the Wild Horse and Burros Act of 1971 (A Republican sponsored Act to save the horses) requires that the horses be maintained within an environmentally sustainable number, and that task is assigned to the BLM.
Liberals like Harry Reid supported a rider, on a funding appropriation, to send excess Wild Horses to slaughter which is not the right answer either. While environmentalists oppose this slaughtering, they keep voting for Liberals like Harry Reid who support the slaughter. The excessive number of Wild Horses, we currently have, are trammeling Sage Grouse habitat; the BLM knows this and is allowing it to happen.
Just talking about listing the Sage Grouse is driving investors in mineral exploration away from Nevada and that’s why my wife is working, as a geologist, in a pit mine, in northern Alaska this summer rather than in our own state of Nevada.
All the while the Liberal Government discusses listing the Sage Grouse, they continue to allow Sage Grouse hunting. How do they explain that! Whether it’s the EPA or the BLM, they are creating the situations which prevent the American people from using Public Lands and even seizing private lands.
The Sage Grouse discussion is simply another reason to vote Constitutional Conservative and another reason to take our land back from the federal government.
17. Define your position on fracking and other means of oil exploration in Nevada. Do you support coal fired plants?
Speaking from the perspective of a degreed geologist who has certifications in the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), I support fracking. The United States has conducted hydraulic fracking since 1949 with no negative ramifications.
Some people assert that fracking results in methane in our water. Truth be told, we have and always will have methane in water because water tables located under clay seams will contain methane. For those who support geothermal energy… geothermal requires hydraulic fracking. In geothermal, they call it hydraulic sheering. If you oppose hydraulic fracking, then you must oppose geothermal energy too, and that’s the safest, greenest, cleanest form of energy we have right now. Additionally, the byproducts of the brine in geothermal result in lithium which can be used for the production of batteries.
I support coal burning as a reliable source of energy, but if coal is being used, I would prefer coal-direct chemical looping which is the cleanest way of processing coal into electricity. Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on coal as other sources of energy are becoming available.
18. In efforts to bring new businesses to Nevada, the Catalyst Fund was established. This is funded by state tax dollars. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development receives and then votes on applications from businesses and, through local governmental entities, subsidizes those selected. What is your position in regards to the Catalyst Fund? Do you have other ideas to encourage new businesses to locate in Nevada?
Have you ever walked into the Office of Economic Development? It’s a very pretty building, the people seem well paid, but what do they do? Can they account for the money they are giving away? It doesn’t seem they can. Are they entering into unwritten contracts? It appears that they are. Is the office playing favorites? It seems so. Are these ventures with the Catalyst Fund a violation of the Nevada State Constitution? It really appears that they are. The Office of Economic Development needs a review.
What is my idea for encouraging new businesses to locate to Nevada? Get Government regulations out of the way and reduce the taxes on businesses. When businesses can function, they hire more people, people with money buy products that are taxed at the register, the Government ultimately sees more revenues when more people are working, and the Government spends less money on programs to help people because they are working.
Additionally, we need to reach out to production industries which create products. When the economy is down, tourism and the gaming industries take a hit. When the price of minerals goes down, the mining industry takes a hit. Our economy needs to be better diversified for material production, as an example: If we are going to use and denude our deserts for solar fields, we can incentivize companies to produce the solar cells in Nevada. These types of production jobs create stability for our economy.
19. Do you support “campus carry” legislation allowing licensed CCW permit holders over the age of 21 to carry their weapons on Nevada college and university campuses? Would you extend the same right to secondary school campuses?
YES! I support campus carry.
YES! I support school carry. In every state where we have had some CRAZY school mass shooting, it was a state that doesn’t allow teachers to carry concealed or exposed. The crazy school shootings never occur where teachers can carry concealed or exposed. Yes, many states do allow teachers to carry in public schools and those are safe schools.
Violent crime in the United States has been going down proportional to the number of CCW permits issues.
20. If there is any issue that you are concerned about that has not been addressed in this interview, this is your opportunity to address it:
Yes, there are other issues, please read about them by visiting my website at: http://ElectRexCrouch.com
This internet Interview was provided by Rex Crouch with the understanding that it would be posted in its entirety, and nothing taken out of context.
These interviews are posted on Nevada News & Views (www.nevadanewsandviews.com) and/or NewsDesk by Nancy Dallas (www.ndbynd.com). Reposting of any interview by interested parties must include the disclaimer the interview was originally posted in the above publications. Only those Republican races with a Primary contest are being addressed. Questions or comments may be directed to Nancy Dallas at nancy@nancydallas.com or 775-847-0129.