Assembly District 35

Republican incumbent Brent Jones has been at the center of controversies in both his legislative and professional endeavors since winning the election for Assembly District 35 in 2014.

Now he faces challenges from members of his own party.

Brent Jones, Tiffany Jones (no relation), Tom Blanchard, Benjamin Donlon and Raymond Joseph Giordano will all appear on the Republican primary ballot in June. The winner will face attorney Justin Watkins, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Donlon said he is no longer interested in winning the nomination and has ceased campaigning.

During the 2015 Legislature, Brent Jones was one of several targets of a Clark County grand jury probe into an attempted extortion of Assemblyman Chris Edwards to get him to change his vote for Assembly speaker. On May 9, Edwards asked the FBI to investigate Brent Jones along with political consultant Tony Dane and Laurel Fee, an activist who has worked on Jones’ campaign.

On April 26, a former employee of Real Water, a company Jones owns, filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was forced to watch videos on the Church of Scientology while working.

“If it turns out the allegations are true, I think it’s just another example of how this candidate is after his own agenda,” Tiffany Jones said of Brent Jones and the lawsuit.

Blanchard chimed in on the controversies, too.

“(Brent) Jones has done more for promoting his own company than for the people in his district,” he said. “He’s more involved in how to increase his power than increasing the power of his constituents.”

Brent Jones defeated incumbent Democrat James Healey in the 2014 general election.

The assemblyman did not return phone calls or emails from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but answered a questionnaire the newspaper sent to candidates about key issues.

He staunchly opposes Common Core educational standards and supports private school vouchers and charter schools. He wants to repeal the commerce tax, passed as part of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $1.5 billion tax package in the 2015 Legislature, because he said it is bad for small businesses.

Tiffany Jones is a San Diego native who moved to the valley in 2005. She owns Peridot Sweets, a southwest valley bakery she opened in 2011.

She thinks Sandoval’s tax package was needed to better fund education in the state, and hopes it will bring more businesses to the valley.

“Better education is at the base of bringing more companies here,” she said.

She supports public school alternatives such as charter and victory schools, and wants more emphasis on language immersion programs for students.

Tiffany Jones said she will support whatever voters decide on Question 2, a November ballot measure that would legalize recreational use of marijuana.

If it passes, she wants to create laws that keep marijuana away from children. As a baker, she’s worried about how marijuana edibles will be regulated and wants to ensure children won’t confuse marijuana brownies with their non-THC cousins.

Blanchard ran for election in the district in 2012 and lost in the general election to Healy.

He doesn’t think additional funding will help improve public schools, and believes involving parents is a higher priority.

Blanchard wants seats on the Public Utilities Commission, which regulates energy companies, to become elected positions so voters can hold them accountable.

Giordano did not respond to emails or phone calls from the Review-Journal, did not answer the newspaper’s candidate questionnaire, and does not appear to have a campaign website or Facebook page.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com 702-383-4638. Find @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.