Wilke, Grady for Assembly seats

Carson City area voters are fortunate to have four worthy candidates in races for two Nevada Assembly seats, and we favor a Democrat in one and a Republican in the other.

While the choices are difficult, the good news is that residents will find themselves with strong representatives no matter the results on Election Day.

In District 40, the edge goes to Democrat Stacie Wilke over Republican Ron Knecht. They are quite distinct candidates and will be bring very different abilities to the offices, so some people will have no problem choosing between them. It depends on what you want in a legislator.

Wilke has long ties to Carson City and public-office experience as a member of the Carson school board. Her job as a casino manager puts her in close touch with business and human-relations issues. All those skills and experience are important to the post.

In short, we see Wilke as representing the long line of citizen legislators in Nevada.

Knecht, an economist with the Public Utilities Commission, offers professional expertise and a bureaucrat's knowledge of public policy and analysis. His legal and engineering background would be valuable to the law-crafting process.

In District 38, which extends from Yerington to Carson City, we're giving the nod to Republican Tom Grady over Democrat George Dini.

In this case, we find more similarities than differences between the two candidates.

Both are longtime Yerington residents with records of service to their community, local public offices on their resumes (Grady was mayor of Yerington for 12 years; Dini has been on the Yerington City Council six years) and a solid grasp of issues in the rural district. Both have been in business -- Grady as a bank executive, and Dini as a casino executive.

Grady's advantage is his nine-year tenure with the Nevada League of Cities, which gives him lobbying experience with the Legislature and detailed knowledge of statewide issues. Dini's advantage is his father, Joe, the longest-serving member of the Assembly whose seat he is seeking to fill. George wouldn't have to look far to fill in any gaps in his own knowledge of the issues.

Confident the districts will be in good hands with any of the choices, we're picking Wilke and Grady.