Danny Tarkanian Archives

Danny Tarkanian looking to make dad proud with run for Congress

October 22, 2018 By administrator

Danny Tarkanian

By Ramona Giwargis / Las Vegas Review-Journal

Danny Tarkanian’s father, famed basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, warned him to stay away from politics.

It didn’t work.

“My father said to me, ‘Why would you want to run for public office? The people that are the most successful are the ones that lie the best, and have the most money to lie most often,’” Tarkanian, 56, recalled.

Tarkanian, a Republican businessman who’s running for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District against Democrat Susie Lee, laughed at his father’s advice back then. Years later, Tarkanian said, he experienced firsthand the relentless attacks from political opponents.

But Tarkanian, who had just graduated college, was driven by a bigger goal: To emulate his role models, Sens. Paul Laxalt, who died in August, and Richard Bryan. Both lawmakers also served as Nevada governor.

“They were great public servants that inspired confidence, appreciation and respect,” Tarkanian said on a recent afternoon. “They inspired me to get into public service.”

Tarkanian didn’t mount a run for political office right away. He was 42 when he got into politics, after working at a law firm and coaching basketball for seven years. And his fear of public speaking — which still haunts him — made it more difficult to rally voters the way other politicians do.

But despite having run for office multiple times — including three previous bids for Congress — Tarkanian doesn’t consider himself a politician.

Tarkanian said the biggest challenge of his career is overcoming the “worst, lying deceitful” ads from better-funded rivals. He didn’t respond to attacks when he ran against Rep. Jacky Rosen in 2016 — a move he calls a “mistake.” He lost by about 1 percentage point.

“If anything they said in those ads were true, I would either be in jail or I would certainly be hiding from people,” Tarkanian said. “If a candidate is going to lie to you to get elected by running these type of ads, why are you surprised when they lie to you when they’re in office?”

U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Armenian-American Danny Tarkanian on his big GOP primary win in Nevada.

June 14, 2018 By administrator

Republican Danny Tarkanian

U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Armenian-American Danny Tarkanian on his big GOP primary win in Nevada.

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Democrats in Nevada have two open congressional seats to defend in November, and Tuesday’s primary voting set the stage for what could be some of the most expensive, hard-fought House races in the country.

Republican Danny Tarkanian, son of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, and Democrat Susie Lee, a Las Vegas philanthropist, captured their parties’ nominations in southern Nevada’s 3rd District, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen advanced to face GOP Sen. Dean Heller in what promises to be one of the most important races for the U.S. Senate.

Former one-term Reps. Steven Horsford, a Democrat, and Cresent Hardy, a Republican, also prevailed to set up a rematch in the 4th District. It stretches from north of Las Vegas through four rural counties in the western battleground state that Democrat Hillary Clinton carried in her loss to President Donald Trump in 2016.

Both House seats will be up for grabs in November and could play an important role in Democrats’ hopes of cutting into GOP majorities in Congress.

Fourth-term Rep. Mark Amodei fended off a GOP primary challenge from badly outspent tea party favorite Sharron Angle in northern Nevada’s 2nd District, and Democratic Rep. Dina Titus cruised to a lopsided victory in her bid for a fifth term in the heavily Democratic 1st District in Las Vegas.

Both incumbents will be heavy favorites in the fall.

In the sprawling 2nd District where no Democrat has won since the district was created in 1980, Clinton Koble — an Obama-era appointee to the U.S. Agriculture Department who picked up labor endorsements— defeated five other candidates.

Republican Joyce Bentley, a former Las Vegas real estate agent, won her primary in the 1st District, topping Fred Horne, who finished third in the primary two years ago.

Horsford, an ex-state lawmaker from Las Vegas, became the first African-American to represent Nevada in Congress when he won the seat in 2012.

Hardy, another former legislator from Mesquite, defeated him in 2014 then lost in 2016 to Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen, who announced early this year he would forgo a re-election bid amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The two former congressmen wasted little time setting their sights on the November election, blasting each other’s records in the U.S. House within an hour of being declared primary winners.

GOP House Candidate Blames Gun Control For Armenian Genocide

April 6, 2018 By administrator

Danny Tarkanian

Nevada congressional candidate Danny Tarkanian suggested in a recent interview that the Armenian genocide could have been prevented had the Ottoman Empire not robbed Armenians of their guns.

Tarkanian addressed the issue of gun control during a March 27 radio interview with conservative firebrand Wayne Allyn Root.

“I happen to understand that the first thing Hitler did before he herded the Jews into concentration camps to kill them was he passed, I believe in ’38, a law that said no Jew could own a gun,” Root said. “In the end you’re powerless and defenseless if you have no gun.”

Tarkanian, a perennial Republican candidate and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, said the Holocaust was an example of “history repeating itself,” and pointed to the Armenian genocide.

“I’m Armenian, and the Ottoman Empire ― they took the guns from the Armenians,” Tarkanian said. “They came and they killed 1.5 million of the 2 million that were there because they had no way to defend themselves.”

Root agreed, and claimed that despots like Russia’s Joseph Stalin and Cambodia’s Pol Pot “always take the guns first.”

Tarkarian and Root are correct that many mass killings throughout history followed the confiscation of guns. The Ottoman Empire passed gun control laws in 1911, about four years before the start of the Armenian genocide, and Armenians were required to surrender their weapons.

But Armenians had been forbidden from owning weapons for hundreds of years and were the victims of religious persecution well before the 20th-century genocide. A pogrom in the late 19th century, which predated the gun control legislation, also resulted in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians.

A handful of conservative figures, including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, have latched on to the claim that gun control legislation helped spur the Holocaust. In February, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) also questioned how many Jews were “put in the ovens because they were unarmed.”

Tarkanian has unsuccessfully run in state elections since 2004. Hours before the filing deadline for the 2018 midterms last month, Tarkanian dropped his bid to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R) and decided to run for a House seat instead. Trump had suggested Tarkanian make the move two days earlier:

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-house-candidate-blames-gun-control-for-armenian-genocide/ar-AAvvSQ8

Danny Tarkanian to run for Nevada Senate seat in 2018

December 10, 2017 By administrator

Danny Tarkanian

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region announced Friday its endorsement of Danny Tarkanian, Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Nevada. Tarkanian will be facing incumbent Senator Dean Heller in the 2018 primary, Asbarez reported.

“As the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, Danny Tarkanian is committed to the cause for justice not just for his own family, but for all Armenians. Having him in the United States Senate will surely empower our community, and we look forward to working closely with him to achieve our common goals,” said ANCA-WR Chairperson Nora Hovsepian.

“I am honored and grateful to receive ANCA-WR’s endorsement and look forward to working with them during my campaign and after elected as the first American Armenian US Senator on issues of importance to our country and the Armenian-American community. As someone whose grandparents lived through the Genocide, I will be a strong voice for improving the bilateral relations between Armenia and the United States, and I will work tirelessly alongside ANCA-WR towards the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States government,” said Tarkanian.

A prominent businessman and son of renowned college basketball coach, the late Jerry Tarkanian who was honored at the ANCA-WR Gala Banquet in 2013 as the “People’s Champion” and Las Vegas City Council member Lois Tarkanian, Danny has proven to be a passionate advocate of Armenian American issues.

LAS VEGAS: Tarkanian Wins Primary in Nevada Congress Race

June 16, 2016 By administrator

Danny Tarkanian will vie for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional sear in November

LAS VEGAS—Republican congressional hopeful and ANCA-endorsed candidate Danny Tarkanian won the Nevada House Primary on Tuesday and will vie for the open House seat in the state’s 3rd Congressional district.

He will face off against Democrat Jacky Rosen in the November General Election.

Tarakanian was in a tough primary race against Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson

A prominent businessman and son of renowned college basketball coach, the late Jerry Tarkanian, Danny has proven a passionate advocate of Armenian American concerns, according to the Armenian National Committee of America. If successful in November, Tarkanian will be joining fellow Armenian American Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) in the U.S. House.

Last month, Tarkanian joined Democratic Congressman Jim Costa and ANCA National Chairman Raffi Hamparian at the Central Valley’s Flag Raising and Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Fresno City Hall.

At the ceremony, Tarkanian shared his family’s tragic experiences during the Genocide and acknowledged the recent passing of two prominent Armenian-Americans—businessman Kirk Kerkorian and his father and basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. He, too, ended his message with an appeal for activism by stating “Speak-up and do something, otherwise evil will flourish.”

Another ANCA-endorsed candidate, incumbent Dana Titus of Nevada’s 1st Congressional district handily won the primary and will be on the November ballot.

Danny Tarkanian second Armenian American to run for US Congress

July 14, 2015 By administrator

Danny Tarkanian

Nevada’s Danny Tarkanian today became the second American of Armenian heritage this election cycle to announce his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, the Armenian National Congress of America reported.

Danny Tarkanian joined California’s Katcho Achadjian who is also running for a seat in Congress.

If they win, Achadjian and Tarkanian will join Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, the two current U.S. Representatives of Armenian descent

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