Brown won’t seek re-election

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, May 13, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

Citing family commitments, Assemblyman David Brown has announced he won't run for re-election to his third term in the Legislature.

Republicans are courting former Assemblywoman Kathy Martin to run for the District 22 seat. Martin served two terms in the Legislature but decided not to run again after the last redistricting efforts.

Martin said this morning she is still talking to her family about whether to file for the office. The filing period closes Friday. Martin works for a company that provides workers' compensation insurance to many builders and contractors in the state.

"It's a big undertaking," the 45-year-old Martin said of making another run for office. "And I gave it my full 110 percent when I was in."

She said she focused on education issues and was involved in efforts to deregulate energy companies, which, she said, "I would hope we could revisit now that everything has calmed down."

The southern Assembly district, which covers parts of Henderson and Las Vegas, is largely Republican but has drawn two Democrats, Caren Levenson and Richard Young.

Levenson, a 46-year-old self-described "community activist and professional volunteer" ran for the seat two years ago and said she knew when she lost on election night that she wanted to run again.

"A lot of people will know my name, whether it be the PTA or senior groups or the Yucca Mountain advisory board that I sit on through the county," she said.

Young, who retired to Nevada about a year ago, owned a car leasing business and a restaurant in New Jersey and said he would like to start building a new beltway around the Las Vegas Valley to ease traffic.

"If we don't do it soon, the land acquisition will be more expensive," the 73-year-old said.

Brown, an attorney, was in court this morning and could not be reached for comment.

Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Garnerville, said he's confident the seat will remain Republican and that Martin would be a good candidate. He said he understands it was taxing on Brown to travel to Carson City and be away from his family.

"He had to make a choice and an obvious choice is he needed to do what he could do for his family," Hettrick said.