On Wednesday, we heard from plenty of Legislature candidates at the Henderson Democratic Club's April candidate forum. So far, we've talked about the Democratic candidates running in the AD 20 and AD 21 open seats. However, we also heard from a couple incumbent legislators whose districts were radically reshaped in redistricting. One of them was Assembly Member James Ohrenschall (D-Sunrise Manor).
He's running again, but he must now run in a much different district. As we discussed last week, this seat has become more competitive with the addition of the tony (and VERY heavily Republican) Henderson communities of Lake Las Vegas and Calico Ridge. Apparently, he even got a primary challenger last month. Yet despite all this, Ohrenschall intends to keep fighting.
I sensed some of that fighting spirit in his speech on Wednesday. He discussed not only his upcoming campaign for the new AD 12, but also why he first ran for Assembly in 2006 and what he's been doing in Carson City since then. It's so easy to become cynical and discouraged after seeing what happens there. And even though I could sense some frustration from him, James Ohrenschall didn't sound like someone who wanted to throw in the towel and give up.
He pretty much laid it all on the line. And he didn't back away from any of his progressive values. In my humble opinion, he really looked and sounded courageous. And after hearing his story, I started to get that little glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, good things can come out of Carson City in the near future. We shall see.
No comments:
Post a Comment