Today, Republican Drew Johnson announced his campaign to represent Nevada residents of the 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2022, Johnson narrowly lost his run for Clark County Commissioner to Democrat Justin Jones, who was recently found by a federal judge to have lied to the court and destroyed evidence. Leading by 3,000 votes on election night, Johnson lost by less than 400 votes one week later.

In a statement released by the campaign, Johnson takes an early swing at his Democratic rival Susie Lee, referring to her as a misguided progressive who loves to increase taxes and supports careless spending. He also refers to the Lee’s stock trades which have violated the STOCK act more than 200 times since 2020 with trades totaling over $3.3 million.

“Today, I am proud to launch our effort to help restore the basic, fundamental role of government for our citizens,” Johnson stated. “Together, we will restore fiscal sanity in Washington. We will secure our southern border to stop the flow of violent cartels, human traffickers, and deadly Fentanyl into our communities. We will give every family from every background the same choice in where to send their kids to school that the wealthy and elite families enjoy today.”

“Susie Lee has come to exemplify Washington corruption. She defends an unaccountable, bloated federal government and adheres to an out-of-step, misguided progressive ideology that deprives Nevadans of our fundamental individual liberties,” Johnson continued. “She has increased taxes, voted for careless spending that spiked inflation, weakened our global reputation, and helped to create the alarming increase in crime that prevents Nevadans from feeling safe in their own communities. Worst of all, Lee has exploited her position in Congress to become even richer through shady insider stock trades while her constituents struggle in the tough economy she helped to create.”

“I believe that individuals make better decisions about their lives than government ever will. I’m proud to have spent 20 years working at think tanks, media outlets, and grassroots organizations fighting to empower people to live their American Dream. I will fight for commonsense solutions to crime, spending, and immigration while rooting out public corruption. It’s what all Nevadans deserve.”

The Globe will be interviewing Johnson later today and will publish the interview tomorrow.