Due to Mark Amodei's retirement, lots of candidates are throwing their hat in the ring for northern Nevada's Congressional District.
Since the seat's inception in 1983, only four people have been nominated and all of them have been republican's.
2 News Nevada has interviewed the two most well known republican candidates, David Flippo and James Settelmeyer, in the race.
However, there are 11 other candidates.
One that has been making a lot of noise is retired Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts, who admitted he jumped in the race after Amodei decided to not run.
"When he announced it, it was, okay if not me, than who," Watts said.
Background
Watts said he started as a cadet at 12-years-old and was a cadet for several years before becoming a police officer. for the Amity Police Department. He then was deputy Sheriff and then Eureka County Sheriff. Watts retired last year.
However, the retirement comes while Watts is currently suing Eureka County. The former sheriff says he retired to preserve his constitutional right of due process.
Watts is suing the county for allegedly improper investigations.
The Eureka Sentinel has several pieces about the legal case, if you want to look further into the details.
In his past as a Sheriff, Watts fought against COVID-19 and mask mandates under former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.
Vision for CD2
When looking back on Amodei's 15 years in Congressional District 2, Watts says it's time for a fresh perspective in Congress.
"Too long, first of all, and not aggressive," he said. "We have, I said this, we have a diverse issues in this district from wild horses, water mining regulations, housing infrastructure problems."
Watts says he would also like to get more mining companies who are based in Nevada rather than other states,
In regard to working with President Donald Trump, Watt believes Trump has made some positive impacts on northern Nevada.Â
"Some of them are very aggressive in and nature that is appropriate," he said. "I say this, immigration, he did an executive order to close the border and enforce immigration. And that is that needs to be codified in law because the impacts to Nevada are real."
The former Sheriff says that in one year, the Sheriff's Office had one contact with an illegal immigrant and then the following year it grew up to 17.
Flippo and Settelmeyer
While Settelmeyer and Flippo are seemingly the frontrunners, Watts says he still likes his chances.
"Money doesn't buy this district," he said. "People and relationships are what this district is about. Having a sit down conversation over coffee with a single family member can get you 50, 60, 70 votes because they're actually tied into multiple families multiple generations across this district."
In regards to Settelmeyer, Watts believes the district could suffer from Deja Vu.
"Our country will not preserve what we are doing if we just keep doing the same thing over and over and over," he said. "James (Settelmeyer) followed in Mark (Amodei)'s footsteps in the state legislature, and now he's been anointed to follow in Congress."
Flippo, however, is where most of his concerns lie.
"The lies that are being said about multiple members of this contingency for this position, the actions are just disgusting," Watts said.
The retired Sheriff has filed a federal elections complaint against Flippo alleging that he's using campaign funds for a home.Â
Flippo's campaign manager says the claims are wrong.
The other Republican candidates that we did not mention are Jennifer Billat, Jerry Olsen, Rick Shepherd, Thomas Doyle, George Forbush, Andrea Lowe, Sherman Tylawsky, Fred J. Simon Jr., Bruce Grego, and Michael Smith.
We have also interviewed the two most prominent Democratic candidates Greg Kidd and Teresa Benitez-Thompson.
See the full interview with Jesse Watts below:Â
Former Sheriff's Jessie Watts talks to Jaden Urban about why he joined the race for Congressional District 2.
