LAS VEGAS — In Nevada, “Desperado” isn’t simply the title of a curler coaster at Buffalo Invoice’s Resort and On line casino — it’s additionally how three-term Democratic Rep. Susie Lee describes her GOP opponent in Nevada’s third congressional district this cycle, who she described Wednesday as “a desperate man.”
The person is Drew Johnson, a think-tank veteran who got here inside a whisper of a 2022 seat on the highly effective Clark County Council.
Johnson is operating an aggressive marketing campaign in opposition to Lee, who he calls “the most corrupt member of Congress since Menendez was kicked out of the Senate,” referring to the disgraced former NJ senator who resigned from workplace after being convicted on federal bribery prices.
“She is so self-interested; she has over 200 examples of STOCK Act violations,” Johnson stated of the 2012 legislation barring members from buying and selling on insider data.
He stated Lee “has example after example of insider trading, where she has taken the knowledge that she gained as a member of Congress and made herself and her family hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars off of that knowledge. … She went into Congress rich, and has made herself richer.”
Johnson stated he wouldn’t personal particular person shares if he’s elected to Congress.
The GOP challenger’s marketing campaign has sponsored roadside posters and even devoted a web site to chronicling her file at www.shadysusielee.com.
At a Las Vegas occasion selling the Harris-Walz ticket, Lee spoke with The Submit for 58 seconds and solely supplied the “desperate” remark. The marketing campaign had not responded to a reporter’s interview request previous to the occasion.
Lee leads Johnson by 13 factors in a late August survey of doubtless voters from Emerson Faculty.
However Johnson says Lee might take successful when voters evaluation her file.
“She has made life worse for everybody in this district, with her tax and spend policies, with her extreme views on energy policy that increased the cost of gas, and frankly, everything we buy,” he stated in an interview.
Johnson says Lee’s identification as a “bipartisan” legislator — a phrase she used when talking with The Submit Wednesday — isn’t supported by her voting file.
“She’s in a very purple, very moderate district, a very entrepreneurial district, and she has voted with Biden 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, she voted 99% of the time with Pelosi and 92% of the time with ‘squad’ members,” he continued.
He stated Lee not often seems within the district when Congress will not be in session, preferring to spend winter breaks at her household’s trip house in Solar Valley, Idaho.
“Her constituent services have become terrible,” Johnson charged. When a small enterprise proprietor, when a veteran, when a senior who has points with their Social Safety calls her workplace, quite a lot of the occasions, their response is gradual, in the event that they get a response in any respect.”
Chatting with The Submit, Lee defended her file.
“I’ve been elected for three terms, and I delivered for our community: 140,000 jobs, $4.8 billion of investment in our community, good paying jobs.”
Lee additionally stated she was “fighting to bring down the cost of housing,” and claimed she was ranked essentially the most bipartisan member of Congress, which The Submit was unable to independently confirm.
Johnson stated that in knocking on 24,000 doorways within the district, voters of all stripes have advised his marketing campaign that the financial system and immigration are the important thing points. He stated he believes he’s on the correct aspect of these subjects and that if Republicans each prove the vote and get mail-in ballots despatched in early, he’ll win.
