It’s campaign season. A season that puts every candidate under the spotlight and rightful scrutiny. GOP primary candidate for Assembly District 21 (AD-21) Dr. Jon Petrick‘s past financial filings with the Nevada Secretary of State have raised some questions and concerns. We have no “horse in this race,”  however, we will publish public information in an effort to not only inform the public, but to allow candidate’s to defend their public record (see below).

Upon review of Petrick’s Candidate Financial Disclosure forms, in addition to open-sourcing, we found that his campaign received an influx of cash after Dr. Petrick’s business received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief funds. Petrick’s business, Las Vegas Pain Relief Centers, donated a total of $20,000 to his 2022 campaign after receiving the funds.

Additionally, we found that his campaign filed his 2022 campaign disclosures in May 2024, a full two years after his narrow loss in the district in 2022 to Democratic incumbent Elaine Marzola. Marzola has served the district since 2020 after defeating her Republican challengers in each election by approximately 1,200 votes.

According to the ProPublica Tracking PPP website, on April 13, 2020, Dr. Petrick’s company, Las Vegas Pain Relief Centers PLLC of Henderson, NV, received $62,880 in PPP funds. According to the site, the money was used for payroll for nine employees, and the loan was forgiven as of October 12, 2021.

Then, on March 18, 2021, Las Vegas Pain Relief Centers PLLC received $291,572 in PPP funds. According to the site, the money was used for payroll for 18 employees, and the loan was forgiven as of Nov. 25, 2022.

As his business received ~$350,000 in PPP funds, Petrick contributed significant amounts to his campaign totaling $60,300.

The Las Vegas Pain Relief Center (Petrick) made two $10,000 donations on August 23, 2021. It appears Petrick donated $10,000 to Petrick, and then Petrick donated $10,000 to the “Committee to Elect Dr. Jon Petrick.”

When asked about the contributions and the late filing, Petrick responded via email to The Globe:

“Like so many business owners here in Nevada, I am grateful to have received a PPP loan to support my business, Las Vegas Pain Relief Center, during the COVID pandemic. Because of this, I was able to keep my doors open all throughout COVID despite a sharp decline in revenue, and didn’t lay off or reduce pay for a single one of my fifteen employees. Furthermore, because this loan was used exactly as intended, the federal government forgave it completely. During my 2022 campaign, I had an outside entity that I trusted handling my campaign reporting and accounting. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, they failed to file this document. Within 48 hours of me being notified of this clerical error, the disclosure was properly filed.”

As this is Petrick’s second attempt to oust Marzola, he must first defeat GOP primary challenger April Arndt, who has been endorsed by Governor Joe Lombardo.

By the numbers, AD-21 is a swing district and a prime “pick up opportunity” for state Republicans as they seek to strip the Democrats’ supermajority in the Assembly.

Early voting begins tomorrow, May 25 and runs through Friday, June 7. The June Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, June 11.