Wrong on the Border. Silent on Girls’ Sports. Doesn’t Take Criticism Very Well.
Quote: “We don’t need to stop immigrants at the border.”
Read that again.
Those aren't my words. They're Ryan Hampton's. My opponent in the Assembly District 9 race. Written by his own hand. In his own 2018 USA Today op-ed.
That was his position. Not a slip of the tongue. Not taken out of context. A deliberate argument. In print. That border security wasn't the answer.
Now we have the numbers. And the numbers say he was wrong. Dead wrong.
Fentanyl deaths plunge 22% as Trump White House touts crackdown on deadly drug crisishttps://t.co/PiaIQzDFfC
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) August 21, 2026
Fentanyl deaths down 22% in a single year. Synthetic opioid deaths dropped from 48,913 to 38,084. Total drug overdose deaths down 14%. Real numbers. CDC numbers.
And the policies behind that drop?
Border security. Cartel crackdowns. Fentanyl finally treated as the national security threat it always was.
The very things Ryan Hampton said we didn't need.
More than 10,000 Americans are alive today who might not otherwise be. Families spared the worst phone call of their lives.
And the approach that helped make it happen is the exact approach Hampton spent years railing against.
Here's where it gets worse for him.
Hampton, afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), has made the president his favorite villain.
Called Trump's presidency an “existential crisis.” Said Trump is “chopping our state off at the knees.” Said we're headed toward “very dark times.”
Turns out Trump's policies have delivered the biggest one-year drop in fentanyl deaths this country has seen.
On the one issue Ryan Hampton has built his entire career around. His only issue.
You'd think that might prompt some reflection. Maybe some credit where it's due.
Instead, Hampton does what he always does when he's losing an argument. He tries to change the subject and shoot the messenger.
Rather than talk about Trump’s success on the border and all the lives his policies have saved, Hampton would rather attack me over a completely different and unrelated issue.
When the Facts Get in the Way, Hampton Runs and Hides
On June 19, I wrote about the courtroom maneuvering that kept the Protect Girls' Sports initiative off Nevada's ballot and my promise to keep fighting for it anyway.
The next day, Hampton fired back, calling me “Trump's minion” and accused me of “manufacturing outrage.”
Six weeks later, I wrote about protecting girls’ sports again, standing with WNBA star Sophie Cunningham after she took heat for saying the obvious: girls deserve fairness in their own sports.
Hampton mocked the piece and dug up an old campaign photo of me smiling next to President Trump. He sneered, “You forgot one.”
Two op-eds. Two attacks. Zero engagement with the actual issue: whether girls deserve a fair shot in their own sports. He keeps ducking that one.
So let's tally this up.
Ryan Hampton was wrong about the border and he's been wrong about the president’s policies that have helped save thousands of lives.
And every time I've spoken up for Nevada's female athletes, his answer has been mockery, not substance.
That's not an accident. It's who he is.
A thin-skinned, single-issue candidate who doesn’t take criticism very well and can’t admit when he’s wrong because he’s so obsessed with hating the president.
All Politics is Local
This guy has spent this entire campaign, and the decade before it, obsessing over one national issue. Drug addiction.
Not Assembly District 9's roads. Not its schools. Not the struggles of small businesses. Not the cost-of-living squeezing families right here at home.
Instead, he's running a national grievance campaign in a Nevada race. And the families of AD9 are the ones who'll pay for it if he wins.
Every single day he spends mocking and trying to bully me instead of answering for his poor judgment is a day he's not spending on the local issues affecting our district.
Nevada Assembly District 9 doesn't need a legislator who's singularly focused on national politics and issues while ducking accountability for getting the biggest one wrong.
The fact is, the border is more secure. Fentanyl deaths are falling. Lives are being saved. And we have President Trump’s policies to thank for it.
Ryan Hampton has been wrong all along. But his fragile ego won’t let him admit it.
Assembly District 9 doesn't need his excuses. It needs a fighter for our local neighborhoods and communities. That's why I'm running.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology may have been used in the research, writing, or production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
