“Nevadans trust Steven Horsford to fight for them. Whether it’s helping families make ends meet by working to lower costs for housing, prescription drugs and groceries, or ensuring that more Nevadans have good-paying union jobs, Steven understands what voters are facing and works nonstop to improve their quality of life. John Lee’s extreme MAGA agenda and disqualifying personal behavior doesn’t stand a chance against a proven and trusted leader like Steven,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties From: Lauryn Fanguen
Date: June 13, 2024
Subject: The Case Against John Lee
Steven Horsford knows the meaning of hard work and is a proven champion for Nevada’s local economy and improving the lives of everyday people. He spent more than a decade leading the Culinary Training Academy, the largest job training program in Nevada, where he trained thousands of workers in the hospitality and other in-demand industries. In Congress, Steven is fighting to lower costs, cap the price of insulin at $35 for everyone, and bring more good-paying jobs to Nevada. He delivered critical funding for the Tonopah Child Care Center, the New West Las Vegas Library Construction, and Clark County Navigation Center to help with homelessness.
John Lee is an extreme MAGA Republican who wants to let states ban abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the woman. He can’t be trusted to protect Nevadans and will always put Donald Trump and special interests over Nevada families. His openness to racism and xenophobia and crude past demonstrates how wildly out of step he is with the values and lived experiences of the culturally rich and diverse communities he seeks to represent across this district. His flip-flopping between political parties and repeatedly seeking various positions of power is reflective of the fact he always prioritizes his own interests over helping Nevadans.
Failed Mayor John Lee: Abusing Power and Choosing Profits Over People
John Lee is looking out for himself, not Nevadans. The cost of housing is a key issue in Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District, and Steven Horsford has worked tirelessly to hold out-of-state corporations accountable for pricing working families out of quality and affordable housing. Yet John Lee has a long record of doing just the opposite: siding with corporate interests and making housing less affordable for everyday Nevadans. In 2022, as North Las Vegas was grappling with skyrocketing rent costs, Lee led the charge to kill a proposed rent control ballot initiative backed by the Culinary Union that would have prevented landlords from price gouging residents. Lee, who was bankrolled by real estate and landlord interests, voted to keep the rent control initiative off the ballot.
John Lee’s Disturbing Record Doesn’t Reflect Nevada Values
John Lee’s horrifying record of controversies is enough to make any Nevadan reject his candidacy. Lee was under a disturbing investigation by the North Las Vegas Police for alleged child pornography on his iPad. Lee claims to have accidentally opened a link on his iPad containing child pornography. After police investigated, they identified pornographic content in his device’s browser history, but declined to investigate Lee further after they were unable to confirm that the people on his device were underage. Just days after retiring in 2015, former Police Chief Joe Chronister told the Review Journal that Lee had received “special treatment.”
Lee has also called for the end of birthright citizenship, a move long pushed by white supremacists. This is despite running to represent a district where an estimated 145,000 residents reported they were foreign-born. Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District is also 36% Hispanic and 7% AAPI.
John Lee Wants to Control Women’s Bodies
John Lee is a radical anti-abortion crusader who is grossly out-of-step with Nevada voters on reproductive freedom. Lee supported draconian restrictions on women’s rights and has consistently opposed the right to an abortion throughout his career. During his failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign, Lee made his opposition to reproductive freedom a central part of his messaging, vowing to be “the mostpro-life governor in the history of Nevada.” He announced that he would take drastic steps to eliminate abortion rights in Nevada, promising to support a near-total abortion ban. In 2021, Lee wrote an op-ed in the Gazette-Journal calling to “end the atrocity of abortion,” and saying that Dobbs v. Jackson was “a case I pray will overturn Roe v. Wade and deliver a historic victory for our nation, the unborn and the global pro-life movement.” Lee also promised to “shut down” Planned Parenthood in Nevada, despite the governor not having any power to do so.
NEVADA INDEPENDENT: After losing three straight times, are Republicans as invested in Vegas House seats? [Nevada Independent, 04/30/24]
NEVADA INDEPENDENT: Top GOP super PAC not spending in Vegas-area House races, breaking from past cycles [Nevada Independent, 05/22/24]
NEVADA CURRENT: Horsford, Cortez Masto call for investigation into credit union rejecting Black, Hispanic mortgage applicants [Nevada Current, 01/12/2024]
NEVADA APPEAL: Horsford criticizes Lombardo for veto of housing bills [Nevada Appeal, 10/03/2023]
KSNV: Congressman Steven Horsford secures $500k in funding for new West Las Vegas Library [KSNV, 03/22/2024]
PAHRUMP VALLEY TIMES: Congressman: Millions in funding coming to Nye County [Pahrump Valley Times, 04/03/2024]
THE NEVADAN: Nevada Republican congressional candidate takes aim at birthright citizenship [The Nevadan, 05/24/2024]
NEVADA INDEPENDENT: North Las Vegas council votes to keep Culinary Union rent control measure off ballot [Nevada Independent, 08/03/2022]
NEVADA INDEPENDENT: North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee announces run for governor as Republican, weeks after switching parties [Nevada Independent, 05/17/2021]
PATH TO VICTORY
There are nearly 50,000 more registered Democratic voters than Republican voters in Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District. Democratic candidates up and down the ballot have won in this district for more than a decade and President Biden won this district in 2020 with 54.2% of the major party vote. Nevadans will likely be voting on an abortion ballot initiative this fall. Since Roe fell, every time pro-abortion rights referendums have been on the ballot, they’ve passed.
It’s no coincidence that Cook Political Report rates NV-04 as Likely Democrat. John Lee is facing an uphill battle against Steven Horsford. Steven has grassroots support because voters trust him to deliver results for working families and advocate for a thriving Las Vegas economy. Lee, on the other hand, wants to sell out Nevadans to the highest-bidding developer, ban abortion in Nevada, and enable racism – which is a recipe for yet another failed campaign.
