Submitted by Barry Cole
Elections come down to choices. Choices between someone representing our community and someone potentially being a rubber stamp for special interests. In this election, I believe there is a clear distinction between the candidates.
Ms. Selena La Rue Hatch is my Assembly member for AD25. She represented me in the 82nd Legislature, and I am hoping she will continue to do so in the 83rd.
I am non-partisan, and I don’t care about political party affiliation. I care about being represented by a person with a good heart, a level head, an appreciation of events before us, that continue to shape our lives. Assembly member La Rue Hatch, a high school World History teacher, and now Assembly member, is such a person. She looks at problems facing us now through the lens of history, with a keen knowledge that we live in challenging times and must address these issues: our schools are inadequately funded, we lack graduate medical education opportunities necessary to keep medical students and residents training in Nevada in our state, we nearly all agree that our children face unprecedented mental health challenges, and because of our awful job caring for them we may soon face a Federal consent decree for long standing violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Assembly member La Rue Hatch listens to her constituents’ needs, she has thoughtful, in-depth answers to our questions during events, she studies and comes prepared to engage in dialogue and takes being a member of our Assembly seriously.
When I first met Assembly member La Rue Hatch she carried a massive binder, and said it was one of many she was reading to make sure she was up to speed on the issues facing Nevada. In committee hearings she asked relevant questions, challenged assumptions and statements made, and dug deeper into issues before our judicial, education and natural resources committees. She was always prepared and thoughtfully represented our community in the legislature.
More than this though, she made a point to learn my name and to ask my thoughts as a constituent, and I wasn’t the only one: she did this with other constituents, lobbyists and fellow Assembly members. It was clear that she cared about the people of Nevada and did everything she could to get to know us as people so she could be a real advocate for our community.
As a non-partisan, I didn’t get to vote in the primary. Perhaps with rank choice voting one day I shall. I will vote in the General Election for Selena La Rue Hatch. If you live in AD25 I urge you to get to know the candidates. Consider the issues before us. Rather than forget the past, acknowledge it, learn from it, and re-elect the history teacher to our 83rd Legislature: Selena La Rue Hatch.
Barry Cole is a semi-retired physician in Reno, concerned about education, healthcare access and delivery, our mental health challenges, and increasing fractionalization Nevada.
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