Several key primaries in Nevada are pitting moderate Republicans against more conservative candidates — exposing a deep rift in the Nevada GOP. Reno Public Radio's Marcus Lavergne reports.
Senate District 15 is shaping up to be one those races. Eugene Hoover, a Reno businessman, is running against Heidi Gansert, executive director of external relations at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Earning the endorsement of the Nevada GOP, Hoover has been largely critical of the commerce tax passed by the last legislative session to fund Gov. Brian Sandoval's sweeping education reforms.
"It's the big gorilla in the room, if you will. It was wrong for the legislators to pass such a large tax increase when the voters said no. And I think that's the number one issue."
Hoover says he wants to get bureaucracy out of the classroom.
"Instead of constantly throwing money at the problem, let's actually reform the school districts and help the teachers to teach the children."
His challenger, Heidi Gansert, who once served as Gov. Brian Sandoval's chief of staff, has been more coy on the subject, saying accountability is a key priority for any education funding.
"I think during the next legislative session, there's going to be a lot of examination or scrutiny of how those dollars were spent, and how effective they are. We are hopeful they're effective, because we need to really move the numbers in our school district."
Gansert, a former assembleywoman, says she's tried to emphasize her experience over the political labels of this election cycle.
"I don't feel like I'm establishment, but I definitely feel like I have experience."
The winner of next week's primary will face off against local attorney Devon Reese, a Democrat who's running unopposed.