Assembly District 10

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004 | 2:35 a.m.

Two Democrats are vying to fill the Assembly District 10 seat being vacated by David Goldwater, but unlike 2002, the Democratic winner will face a Republican and third-party opponent in November.

Goldwater, a Democrat who has served in the Assembly since 1995, is running for the Clark County Commission resulting in the open seat.

Facing off in the primary are Democrats Samantha Weitzel, 24, a real estate agent, and Joseph M. Hogan, 67, a retired military and federal employee.

The winner of the primary will face Republican businessman Rex Wilhoite, 60, and Independent American candidate Glenn Brown.

Weitzel, a former president of UNLV's Young Democrats, said she hopes to help redevelop the area that includes some of the older parts of town east of Las Vegas Boulevard and areas south of Sahara Avenue and west of Maryland Parkway.

Weitzel, a first-time candidate, said she wants to focus energy on schools and toward ensuring that the city's older areas do not become less desirable.

"I want to maintain the quality of life," Weitzel said. "I want to bring some practical sense and fiscal responsibility to politics. I see all this haste making waste and I want to bring some efficiency."

Hogan says his career as an attorney for the federal government would make him a legislator who is "on the lookout for waste and improprieties" in government.

Hogan said his primary focus for the 2005 legislative session would be education, health care and public safety.

Hogan, who is a member of the Urban League of Clark County and a Nevada Department of Transportation advisory committee, said more police officers in Las Vegas are essential and that health and insurance plans covering children and seniors should be adopted.

"We need to look at different ways to fund additional police officers, but if we can't find anything, I would support Sheriff (Bill) Young's sales tax proposal because of how important it is to get more officers on the street," said Hogan, who is endorsed by the Metro Police officers union and the Culinary Union among other groups.