Lowden Enters Race for Lieutenant Guv

(NN&V Staff) – Former Nevada state senator Sue Lowden officially announced today that she will be a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor next year, saying if elected she will make the position her full-time job.

“I’ve taken my time and traveled all over the state this summer, testing the waters and taking the temperature of Nevada families and businesses,” said Lowden.  “The people I’ve talked to in coffee shops and grocery stores are still hurting.  They want help. They need help.  And they’ve encouraged me to run.  So I’m in.”

Lowden said her extensive experience in tourism and economic development will be a strong asset in Carson City, noting that she understands from first-hand experience exactly how overly-burdensome government regulations and taxes discourage job creation and business expansion.

“When I chaired the Taxation Committee in the State Senate, I refused to even bring tax hikes up for a vote,” noted the well-established fiscal conservative.  “As lieutenant governor, I’ll use that legislative experience to champion proposals to cut red tape and reduce taxes no matter what some of the special interests think.  I’ve stood up to them before and I’ll do it again.”

Lowden’s background includes performing with the USO’s Bob Hope Christmas Troupe on American military bases in Vietnam and all over the world.  She currently serves on the board of the Nevada Military Support Alliance, a group dedicated to helping wounded veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lowden’s professional experience includes being an elementary school teacher, a Hall of Fame TV anchorwoman, a gaming executive, a bank executive and a state legislator.

Her charitable work includes serving as director and treasurer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and director for the Miss America pageant, as well as being a founding member of Child Seekers and the Southern Nevada Ice Hockey League.

“I was a hockey mom long before Sarah Palin made it cool,” Lowden joked.

The former Republican Party chairman acknowledges that she’s the underdog in the race and is aware of the early negative campaigning by political opponents, but says her race for U.S. Senate three years ago made her tougher and better prepared this time around.

“Anyone who thought they could scare me out of this race with a whisper campaign behind my back seriously misjudged me,” Lowden said.  “I’m in this race to make Nevada a better place to live and work for our families and small businesses.  That’s what I know how to do and that’s the message I’ll be taking to voters statewide from now until Election Day.”