Bill Townsend
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Bill Townsend (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Nevada's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on June 12, 2018.
Townsend completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Nevada District 4
The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. House Nevada District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Steven Horsford (D) | 51.9 | 121,962 |
 | Cresent Hardy (R) | 43.7 | 102,748 | |
| Warren Markowitz (Independent American Party) | 1.4 | 3,180 | ||
 | Rodney Smith (Independent) | 1.2 | 2,733 | |
 | Gregg Luckner (L) | 0.9 | 2,213 | |
 | Dean McGonigle (Independent) | 0.9 | 2,032 | |
| Total votes: 234,868 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 4
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 4 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Horsford | 61.7 | 22,730 |
 | Patricia Spearman | 15.2 | 5,613 | |
 | Amy Vilela | 9.2 | 3,388 | |
| Allison Stephens | 6.0 | 2,216 | ||
 | John Anzalone | 5.8 | 2,134 | |
 | Sid Zeller | 2.0 | 736 | |
| Total votes: 36,817 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Nevada District 4
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Nevada District 4 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cresent Hardy | 47.4 | 15,257 |
 | David Gibbs | 19.0 | 6,102 | |
 | Bill Townsend | 11.4 | 3,659 | |
 | Kenneth Wegner | 11.3 | 3,626 | |
 | Jeff Miller | 8.0 | 2,563 | |
 | Mike Monroe | 3.0 | 973 | |
| Total votes: 32,180 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Independent primary election
No Independent candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Eduardo Hurt (Independent)
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Bill Townsend participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on May 12, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Bill Townsend's responses follow below.[1]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1. Fulfilling my "12 Big Ideas for Nevada" policies that include solutions to improving education, school safety, protecting our seniors, women's issues, affordable healthcare, taxes, guns & violence, veterans and military, protecting our seniors, homelessness, immigration, and Nevada's Future; 2. Creating a network of offices and top-notch personnel to provide world-class constituent services to the people of Nevada; and, 3. Working with newly elected representatives from all Parties to push forth real solutions in Congress. Included in this is my plan to pull all newly elected representatives together to discuss the top 12 initiatives we can band together to address, before Party leaders sway them to following more of the same old partisan politics as usual.[2][3] | ” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | I'm extremely passionate about improving education, making schools safe, protecting our Constitutional rights, women's issues, and solving the Social Security funding issue. I have developed comprehensive policy papers, available at www.TownsendForNevada.com/downloads that address these key areas. Some highlights include: fully funding Social Security for the next 80 years and increasing benefits; dramatically improving education with focus on STEM, personalized instruction, financially rewarding successful teachers, and the creation of my Resek Plan which will create 134,000 hours of 30-minute lectures from America's top professors, which teachers and students can access--all at a one-time cost of $1.33 per student (about 1% of the Department of Education's budget) and ongoing costs of under $0.30 per student. I will work to bring the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to fruition and enact "Equal Pay for Equal Results" legislation, giving women a path to increasing their earnings to that of men.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3]
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” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Bill Townsend answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | I have been blessed with some great mentors: The late Edward Ryan, founder of Ryan Homes, who taught me that as you become successful, it is important to give back to the communities that helped you get to where you are. The late Sol Linowitz, former chairman of Xerox, negotiator of the Panama Canal Treaty and author of "The Betrayed Profession", who taught me the importance of being humble. The late Glenn Olds, who created the Alaska Permanent Fund, who taught me the benefits of grace, kindness, and sticking to principles. In politics, I admire the "get things done" attitude of Presidents Trump and Reagan, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and the late Senator Patrick Moynihan and his work around poverty and guaranteed minimum income.[3] | ” |
| “ | The writings of Abraham Lincoln best express my political viewpoints. On July 1, 1854, Lincoln said, "The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere." For me, this is the most fundamental reason why I decided to run for Congress: to help those who need help and to work to ensure government does not interfere where it is not needed.[3] | ” |
| “ | High moral ethics; honesty; an ability to work across Party lines; an ability to identify the root cause of problems and formulate innovative solutions; and a demand for measurable results and accountability.[3] | ” |
| “ | I have started 12 companies (5 of which are publicly-held) and have given jobs to over 4,500 people. As a lifelong entrepreneur you learn to identify problems and their root cause and to develop innovative programs to solve these problems. This is what is needed in Congress. Successful business founders understand the interconnected world of education, skills, training, opportunity, capital, and global competition better than lawyers, bean counters, and those who have not started companies. I am not seeking this office with goals of running for a higher office. I am doing this because my four children, and the families and children of all Nevadans need someone in Congress who will look at the issue and solve it, regardless of Party policies or pressure from Party leaders. For me, every day that goes by without action to solve an issue is a wasted day. That's how I operate in business and that's how I'll operate in Congress.[3] | ” |
| “ | The core responsibilities of the next Congressman or Congresswoman from Nevada CD4 is to represent the will of the people of the district, to ensure the rural area residents are represented as well as the urban residents, to address the issues facing our state (jobs, education, school safety, and setting in place the means to attract new industries besides gaming, entertainment and mining). Second, I believe the role must also be attuned to what is happening at the state level so that Federal, State, and Local officials can work together to address the challenges Nevada faces. And third, I believe a key role of this position is to bring accountability to the Federal government and the use of taxpayer's funds.[3] | ” |
| “ | I've never had much of an ego so leaving a legacy is not important to me. What I do want to do, whether serving one term or three (I have signed a pledge to serve no more than 3 terms because I believe term limits are important), is get my "12 Big Ideas for Nevada" enacted because if I do that, Nevada's citizens will be in a position keep more of their hard-earned money, have a Social Security system that will be fully funded and available to them, be able to afford health care and prescription drugs, feel confident their children are attending world-class schools in a safe environment, guarantee the U.S. Constitution is not altered, especially the First and Second Amendment rights, and have put in place improvements to the tax system that helps lower income and middle income families.[3] | ” |
| “ | July 20, 1969, watching Walter Cronkite cover the Apollo 11 moon landing was one of the biggest historical moments in my life. I was nearly 5 and I remember it as if it was yesterday. The tearing down of the Berlin wall was another momentous occasion, seeing freedom for millions of people.[3] | ” |
| “ | I grew up on a horse farm so my first job was feeding horses, cleaning stalls, mowing grass, bailing hay and the vast assortment of projects one must undertake when caring for 120 horses. My first non-farm job was working on the maintenance crew at a pari-mutual harness racetrack where I swept floors, cleaned the parking lot, fixed anything that was broken, and became a member of the SEIU union. I held this job for 4 summers and was one of 3 Caucasians on a mostly Black crew. I learned a lot about plumbing, electrical, lighting and other trades, and I learned even more about the challenges Black Americans have gone through, especially from my boss, a mine inspector by day and head of maintenance by night, whose work ethic was the most inspiring of anyone I ever met.[3] | ” |
| “ | Great question! I was 27 years old and owned an ad agency. The year before I was approached to be a bachelor to be put up for auction for a fundraiser. A few weeks before the auction, I began dating someone who was insistent that she had to be the high bidder (not wanting to share me with someone else). Unfortunately, she wasn't the high bidder, so she bid on another bachelor and then convinced him that we should have a double date. It was rather awkward until halfway through dinner when I had to tell my date why the other woman kept such a watchful eye on me. Looking back, it was really quite funny.[3] | ” |
| “ | My favorite holidays are Easter and Christmas because of the symbolism and meaning behind both. I also love my anniversary because, even though my wife and I celebrate every day together, our anniversary is the time of the year that we turn off the phones and computer and escape for 2 days where nothing can interrupt our being together.[3] | ” |
| “ | Quotable Wisdom by Abraham Lincoln (edited by Carol Kelly-Gangi): He is my favorite president and this book is filled with trinkets of thought. The Bible, because it set the moral compass of fairness, truth, and empathy that I try to live my life by. Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard: a story of how bypass satisfied customers to create "raving fans".[3] | ” |
| “ | Bilbo Baggins from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings. Baggins was taken on a fantastical journey where he encountered creatures including trolls, elves, giant spiders, goblins, eagles, wolves, a man who can change shape into a bear, and a mysterious creature named Gollum. Underground, near Gollum's lair, Baggins accidentally found a magic ring of invisibility, which he used to escape from Gollum and which formed the basis for Lord of the Rings. What I love about this character is how Baggins grew wiser and more confident as his journeys went on, somewhat comparable to a pilgrimage of courage and grace.[3] | ” |
| “ | Besides my wife, kids, dog, two birds, and gecko, my favorite things would be my guitars, which give me hours of enjoyment.[3] | ” |
| “ | Stranglehold by Ted Nugent has been stuck in my head since I first heard it in 1976. The guitar playing blew me away then and still does to this day. I heard it 2 days ago and I've been humming it ever since.[3] | ” |
| “ | My mother suffered a stroke when she was 28. I was 5 at the time and had to grow up very fast. My mother was paralyzed and without speech. I would return home from school after lunch to teach her the things I learned that morning: the ABCs, how to tie my shoes, the story of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We became very close because of this reversal of roles and she eventually became a motivational speaker. Her challenges instilled a great sense of empathy for those less fortunate than me and set about a lifelong mission to help others, donate to good causes, and always be available to give someone a lift up.[3] | ” |
| “ | As a Republic, we have an enviable representative government. The idea that 535 men and women come together to enact laws that the People cannot do on their own, is a treasured piece of American history.[3] | ” |
| “ | I think the most beneficial experience for someone in politics is owning their own business. Having to come up with an idea, test it, modify it, raise money, hire employees, do battle against competitors, create benefits programs that attract talent, and lead your employees is the greatest teacher. Being able to take those lessons to an institution that is overrun with lawyers is an exciting challenge.[3] | ” |
| “ | Our failing education system is at the root of most of the challenges we will face as a nation. Without skilled workers, companies cannot compete. Without world-class companies creating jobs and generating revenue, we cannot afford to operate the government, the military, and fund important programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Without well-educated citizens, decisions on policy and even electing people, is done in a vacuum of lack of knowledge which sets a dangerous precedent for future American greatness.[3] | ” |
| “ | The following three committees are ones that can most directly positive impact the lives of Nevadans: Appropriations; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and, Energy and Natural Resources.[3] | ” |
| “ | Not applicable.[3] | ” |
| “ | I believe given the changes that have occurred over the past century, Representatives should serve for no more than 3 terms of 3 years each and Senators should serve for no more than 3 terms of 6 years each. Adding an additional year to a Representatives service would enable them to get at least 2 solid years of work in before being distracted with a re-election campaign.[3] | ” |
| “ | I am in favor of term limits and have signed the U.S. Term Limits pledge to serve no more than 3 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. I know I am the kind of person who if, after 2 years, find that my plans are being blocked and I cannot get them passed, I likely would not seek re-election so that someone else can try to move the ball down the field. I think people who have served and who did not accomplish much, should step away and let others try to make changes. Our election has two former Representatives, Steven Horsford (D) and Cresent Hardy (R); neither of whom accomplished much while in office. I'd like to see new faces given the opportunity to make a difference. I view Congress as a change to serve my country, not a career move. First, this would be a pay cut, but that is OK because this is my opportunity to help others. Second, I am setting aside my 2 companies and non-profit foundation, turning them over to my capable managers, to run for office and hopefully represent the people of Nevada, so I expect I will be able to get things done in Washington, DC. I will not be beholden to Party leaders or special interests. I am beholden only to the people of Nevada CD4.[3] | ” |
| “ | Computerized redistricting to ensure districts are as geographically connected and intact as possible. The current method is done for political expediency and leaves too many people living in districts that are so dramatically different or geographically dispersed that they feel they do not have representation.[3] | ” |
| “ | I will serve where my skills are best utilized.[3] | ” |
| “ | John Kasich (former congressman, now governor of Ohio) inspires me because he set his sights on fixing problems and gets things done. Former Senator Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) impressed me with his willingness to work across party lines (as did Newt Gingrich, another person I admire because of his depth of historical knowledge).[3] | ” |
| “ | Every week I hear stories that touch my heart. This week's was from a veteran who lost his eyesight, has had multiple surgeries, and has overcome tremendous odds to get some semblance of life back. He said to me, "Bill, I go to the VA (hospital) every 3 weeks and for the past 4 months the paper towel holder in the men's bathroom has been broken. If this was on a base, it would have been fixed the day it broke. This is what is wrong with the VA. There is no urgency. No accountability. No understanding that the people they serve were schooled to take action, measure their actions and be held accountable." When he told me this, I realized that even though so much of his life had been destroyed from an incident in Iraq, he still holds the values of being a member of the armed services up as what is right and just in America.[3] | ” |
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Nevada's 4th Congressional District election, 2018
- Nevada's 4th Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Bill Townsend's responses," May 12, 2018
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Senators
Catherine Masto (D)
Jacky Rosen (D)
Representatives
District 1
Dina Titus (D)
District 2
Mark Amodei (R)
District 3
Susie Lee (D)
District 4
Steven Horsford (D)
Democratic Party (5)
Republican Party (1)
