Assemblyman questions ability of other GOP to beat Sen. Reid

Assemblyman Chad Christensen on Friday questioned the ability of other Republicans in the crowded U.S. Senate race to beat Harry Reid in November.

"We have one shot to remove Harry Reid," he said. "I've heard a lot of people say any Republican can beat Reid. He's a fierce competitor. He's a junk yard dog and he's not going to go away."

Christensen is now in his fourth term representing District 13 in Clark County. He said of the dozen Republicans running, he is the only one who is a sitting legislator and the only one undefeated at the polls.

"Out of the Republican 11, most have never been elected to anything," he said, adding that Sharron Angle and Sue Lowden suffered defeats in their last campaigns and Danny Tarkanian has never won an election.

He pointed out that, despite running in a Democratic district where Barack Obama won by

10 percentage points, he was re-elected in 2008.

"People talk about the things they're going to do in Washington, but that's second or third base," he said. "First base is you've got to win the election."

He said with his proven conservative record, he is that candidate.

Christensen has a long history of voting against taxes and larger government in the Nevada Assembly, including during the contentious 2003 session and this past session - both of which saw taxes increased significantly.

"Past performance is the best indicator of future performance," he said. "People campaign one way, then they come here and do another."

District 13 voters, he said, "keep having me back because I'm honest with them."

"Voters can see what I've done for eight years."

Asked what he would do in Washington, he said: "Cut, cut, cut, cut."

"The federal government has become obscenely enormous and it is drowning the states," Christensen said. "All these decisions are being made out of Washington, D.C. - one-size-fits-all decisions for 300 million people.

"The federal government needs to move out of the way," he said.

As an example, he said he would eliminate the federal Department of Education and its $62 billion budget, returning control over education to state and local school districts.

"They have 5,000 employees in that agency and I have no idea what they do for my kids," he said. "Governing is done best as close to the people as possible."

Christensen said his stand on the issues is clear and won't change once in office.

"Everybody knows where I stand," he said. "I'm all about doing the right thing even if it means taking on my own party."