CD2 Democratic Candidate Clint Koble: 'People Before Party'
KUNR Public Radio | By Holly Hutchings
Published October 23, 2018 at 5:29 AM PDT
Clint for Congress
Clint Koble is the Democratic challenger in Nevada Congressional District 2, which covers the majority of Northern Nevada. He hopes to upset incumbent Mark Amodei and finally put a Democrat in the traditionally Republican seat.
Democrats in Nevada's Congressional District 2 hope to clinch a victory in the historically red district. The race is on between three-term Republican incumbent Mark Amodei and Democratic challenger Clint Koble. KUNR's Holly Hutchings sat down with Koble to discuss issues he says affect all Nevadans, such as public lands and immigration, and what he will do if he wins.
Clint Koble says he knows winning CD2 is a long shot, but he hopes the rumored "blue wave" of Democratic voters will crash into this consistently and historically red district. He's taking on Mark Amodei, who has held the seat since 2011. Koble says Amodei backs President Trump almost exclusively, rather than putting people before party. He hopes to secure a victory and head to Washington to address a list of issues he thinks need fixing, including immigration.
"It's very complicated, but first of all there are certain unwritten rules like, there should be no splitting up of families," Koble said. "Whether you have rules of law or not, those are just basic human rights and basic rules for human behavior. We have to make sure those things don't happen. Is it difficult? Are there issues? Yeah, but I think that's where the compassion has to come in. In all of our rulemaking we don't allow for exceptions or we don't allow for a little bit of flexibility, and that's where the compassion part comes into it."
Koble says party leaders on both sides are more concerned with winning than what the people want. He says he'd like to get to know the opposition more personally to effectively work together in the House.
Koble says his experience in the business world and his farming background have equipped him well for this position. He worked in the private sector until being nominated by President Obama to become the state director for the USDA. With his position, he traveled the state and says he can relate to people in rural Nevada and understands many of their concerns, especially those related to gun ownership.
"There are a lot of Democrats that own guns. I grew up in a gun culture," Koble said. "I'm not here to take anybody's guns away, including mine. However, that being said, being a hunter for much of my adult life, you don't need an Ar-15 to shoot a deer. Those are not weapons to hunt; those are weapons to destroy, and there's no place for them. I'm against assault weapons."
Koble says after meeting with the Nevada delegation, the first thing he would like to do if elected is take steps to fix the Affordable Care Act.
This article is an excerpt of an extended conversation. You can listen to a longer interview by clicking the play button above.
Politics and PolicyNorthern Nevadanevada electioncongressional district 2Election 2018
Holly Hutchings
Holly Hutchings is a former reporter at KUNR Public Radio.
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