Knecht, Fulstone to face off in university regents race

Former Assemblyman Ron Knecht will face David Fulstone, a member of a Nevada pioneer family, in the race to replace Jill Derby on the University of Nevada Board of Regents.

Although Knecht finished ahead of Fulstone and the other two primary candidates Tuesday, the race must still be considered wide open since he still received just 33.5 percent of the votes cast.

Fulstone received 24 percent of the total vote while former Western Nevada Community College student senator Liz Moore gathered 18.7 percent, and former UNR student president Ted Lancaster got 10.3 percent.

Knecht, 57, served in the Assembly during the contentious 2003 session, and was one of the 15 Republican hold outs fighting to reduce the size of the tax and budget increase eventually approved that year. He was defeated in his re-election bid by Democrat Bonnie Parnell.

While he still argues there is significant waste in government, he said the university system is one of the places where Nevada needs to put more money since higher education funding in the state is 46th in the nation. He said he would work to increase the system's budget as well as to restore credibility to the board, which has had problems with open meeting and records violations.

Fulstone, 55, is a fifth-generation Nevadan. His family moved to western Nevada in 1858 and he still farms the family land in Lyon County. He is a former Lyon County commissioner who has served on several public boards and commissions.

Fulstone said the system of higher education needs more state funding but also needs to get more creative about finding outside sources of revenue. The Millennium Scholarship, as an example, should be self-funded, he said. He said he also strongly supports the Health Science Center project, which would cost several hundred million dollars if the state decides to go forward with it.

The regents District 9 seat represents four western Nevada counties - Carson City, Douglas, Lyon and Storey - plus the southern part of Washoe.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.