U.S. House District 2

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004 | 3:37 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Angie G. Cochran says she's "pro-Yucca Mountain" while David J. Bennett is opposed to the nuclear dump.

Angie has lived in Nevada for more than 50 years; Bennett moved to the state three years ago from New York.

The two Pahrump residents are vying in the Congressional District 2 primary for the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who is seeking a fifth term. The district includes part of Clark County and all of the other 16 counties.

Gibbons, 59, does not have any opposition in the GOP primary.

Also advancing directly to the general election is Janine Hansen of the Independent American Party and Brendan Trainor, a Libertarian.

For Cochran and Bennett, this is their first try for elective office. In the district, there are more than 163,000 Republicans and more than 121,000 Democrats. Since the district was created in 1982, no Democrat has been elected to represent it.

Cochran says she may not be able to beat Gibbons this election, but she is setting the stage for a future in politics.

Bennett acknowledges the district is heavily Republican, but said he has met members of the GOP who are not voting for President Bush, and Gibbons supports most of the policies of the president.

Cochran, 61, operates an insulation business with her husband in Pahrump. She said she supports the right to work, is for abortion rights, is pro-marijuana and backs allowing homosexuals to marry. She adds she has been married to the same man for more than 25 years.

Bennett, 47, is an applications computer programmer at University Medical Center. He said he always wanted to get into politics and the "time seemed to be right." Bennett, who is single, says something has to be done about the 43 million Americans who have no health care; the No Child Left Behind Law is "severely underfunded" and needs some work. Congress, he said needs to rework Medicare's prescription drug law.

On Yucca, he said the state should fight it until there is proof of "sound science." At present, he said "They can't prove it is going to work."