Matt Fonken among 4 Dems vying to compete against Amodei

Elko Free Daily Press — Matt Fonken, who for years was a behind-the-scenes political activist in Nevada and North Carolina, is among four Democrats vying to unseat longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei in Nevada's Second Congressional District.

Fonken made his bid official for the seat on Saturday and said he'd focus on environmental and land issues, as well as affordability, housing costs and health care.

A day before his official entry into the Democratic race against three others — longtime West Wendover teacher Kathy Durham, who announced her candidacy in November; Morgan Wadsworth, 26, a University of Nevada, Reno, student; and new entry Greg Kidd, a Reno businessman — Fonken spoke about his plans, his goals and his chances of defeating a longtime congressman if he is successful in the June 9 primary. Amodei faces a Republican challenger, Rick Shepherd, who as a 2016 Democratic candidate challenging Amodei was defeated by Chip Evans in the primary.

Fonken said he's not concerned with his primary challengers and the more attention to the primary, the more likely voters will show up for the Nov. 3 general election.

"No, I don't have concerns" about the other candidates, he said.

"This primary is about organizing the voters here, across the district. You know, turning out as many voters as possible in the primary always leads to a very strong general turnout, so we're going to go after every vote we can," he said.

Fonken, 42, lives in Reno and is single with no kids. "I'm a proud Uncle. My brother has five." He was raised in a small Arkansas farming community, not unlike some parts of Northern Nevada and he said he can relate to farmers and ranchers here. He went to college in Arkansas, majoring in civil engineering before altering his trajectory to hospitality management.

Taking on a well-liked Republican in a heavily Republican district will be a heavy lift for Fonken or the other Democrats.

Fonken said he's up to the task.

"Well, you know, at first it starts with having true, honest conversations with those voters," Fonken said. "I grew up rural, I know it was in Arkansas, but rural is rural no matter where you are. So I understand the lifestyle. I understand where these folks come from. I'm comfortable on farms and ranches and and around livestock and I understand what they're going through. And by having those really true, honest conversations with them I can better understand how I can best represent them. And so, for me, it's about having those conversations. At the end of the day giving those voters another choice, for someone who is willing to step up and vote and represent them directly rather than special interests."

Fonken said he's been to Elko several times and would be here this month for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. He discussed issues important here, such as health care, affordability and housing.

"If I were to get elected to to be representative for that district, rural health care access is of major importance to me," he said. "Health care across the board is and we've got to make sure we're not only expanding, but help making sure that you actually have the access that you need closest by.

"I mean, hearing the fact that you don't have cancer doctors. Cancer is rampant across the nation and most folks living in those rural areas, they're less likely to see anybody who's going to even catch that they have it through preventive health care. They're not even going to know they have cancer, and then by the time they do, it's too late. And so making sure that we're expanding that access in that area and across the rurals of Nevada is incredibly important to me to make sure that we are helping folks. And at the end of the day, also that they're not worried about going bankrupt." 

Another issue important to Fonken is affordability, whether it's food or housing, he said.

"We've got to do something about this affordability crisis, and we're not seeing anyone really tackling it," he said. They continue to give tax breaks away to the billionaires. They continue to expand upon corporate interests rather than focusing on what the people need right now.

"The tariffs and the inflation are having major effects on small business owners as well," he said. "The folks that we're talking to own these small coffee shops or bars, restaurants that are struggling because of the just absurd cost of the products that they are used to serving and selling to their customers and every day, folks are having trouble putting that food on their tables and we're focused more on the rich and the billionaires and the corporations rather than focusing on what the people need and this is something that we have got to fight for. And we're not seeing that from our elected representative."

Regarding the national stage, he said he'd push back on some of the Trump administration's more aggressive actions now playing out in the news daily.

"Absolutely," Fronken said. "We must push back. There are so many illegal acts being done, unauthorized acts, that should be reined in by Congress. They have the power to make sure that what this administration is doing and is capable of doing is legal and is a rightful act and there are things that they could be doing right now.

"Just to put pressure on this administration to do what's right. … And at the same time, even with the Trump administration in power, even if the Democrats take back the House and the Senate and we have the power of Congress, we can put legislation forward that Trump will want to sign. He wants to bring down grocery prices. He wants to bring down the prices for everyday Americans. And if we get him legislation that does just that he should sign it. … He should actually account to what he ran on in 2024 and sign legislation that will actually bring down inflation that will get rid of tariffs that are hurting our small businesses right here in this country, and make sure that the prices are coming down for everyday Nevadans."

Amodei is on the Appropriations Committee and the Natural Resources Committee, plus several subcommittees. Fronken said he'd like to be added to the Natural Resources and Agriculture committees.

He called Nevada's outdoors his "church." That's why he wants in on the Natural Resources Committee.

"For me, that's core to my heart and core to what I believe," Fonken said. "I'm an avid outdoorsman. I camp, I hike, I backpack. I snow shoe in the winter. I absolutely love our public land access here in Nevada and I was absolutely livid, especially … with the big, beautiful bill when Mark Amodei put up all of our federal land for sale to the highest bidder. I was absolutely livid and it told me we have got to do something to stop this because there are too many folks who rely on that for especially out in the world for hunting access to provide food on their tables for their families."

He said the administration wants "to sell the public lands off to the the highest bidder."

"Who are those folks, right?" he asked rhetorically. "We're talking about those AI data centers that are trying to come in and suck up all the water out from underneath our feet, that are coming in and raising our our energy bills because they take so much to run them. … So, that's one issue. You need to be protecting those public lands because we have less and less of them all across the nation. Every single year, there's more and more sold off and we must protect what we have left, or, we will have no public spaces to go to. And they are good for my mental life, for my health.

"I like to tell my dad I'm going to church, because that's where my church is, out in the forest. Yeah, out in the mountains, out  engaging and seeing and tracking wildlife. And it's just the best place in the world in my eye. And I was so upset to see that the federal lands and the areas that I love were up for sale all the way down to the waters of Tahoe. … So, we've got to do something. We need someone who's going to be in there, not always trying to sell off our public land, to try to protect them for future Nevadans."