Latest / 775 Alive / Ep028: Rural and Urban in CD-4 (Guest: Cody K. Whipple)

Transcript

Ep028: Rural and Urban in CD-4 (Guest: Cody K. Whipple) · 775 Alive

• 0:03
  Welcome to the 775 Alive podcast, your rural Nevada headquarters for decoding politics, economics, and general global shenanigans. I'm Crystal Newton, your business strategist, breaking down why Nevada's hustle is stronger than a sagebrush root in a windstorm. Here with my trusty co-host, Scott Gavorsky, PhD historian, here to explain the smart lessons of history, even if we are likely to ignore them. Grab your boots for a wild ride through today's most important news.
• 0:30
  Scott: Welcome back. Crystal down here at the Nevada Republican Club. So, a big shout out to Pauline Lee and Schayden Gorai for working with us to get us here. And we're so happy to be joined today by the Congressional District 4, one of the candidates, Cody Whipple. Welcome.
• 0:47
  Whipple: Thank you, Scott.
• 0:53
  a little bit particularly with you because one of the things that's interesting is Congressional District 4 actually is the one district in Nevada that you're covering a large part of what is it six rural counties in 775.
• 1:04
  Whipple: Yep.
• 1:12
  Whipple: You're talking Las Vegas Boulevard all the way to Smith Valley, Nevada, Lake Las Vegas. So it's it's a very large district, right?
• 1:18
  Whipple: Scott: And then north to Tonopah and of course Lincoln County where you're from. So that, that bridging that guide, or bridging that sort of gap between rural and urban is something of course we're doing here at 775. You want to go ahead and give us a bit of your biography background to the issues? Whipple: Cody Whipple, candidate for Nevada's fourth congressional district. I'm a lifelong Nevadan. I say lifelong Nevada, but that we've been here since the inception of Nevada. We were here when it was Utah Territory. My children are fifth generation Nevada. So just 25 years in urb, or rural Nevada cattle ranching uh growing up playing these
• 1:59
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: Think the five hour bush bus trips Whipple: The five, six, seven. I mean, we went to Owyhee and McDermott and uh we always stayed in Winnemucca or Elko and it was a lot of fun because uh it prepared me for you know what was after high school and the FFA and the Boy Scouts, lots of church activities, you know, those small town communities are great. You know, everybody, it's a tribe, right? You you've got other parents looking after you. I remember uh literally I would be sitting on my mailbox and the coach would pick me up and we rode in the back of these old trucks with campers, no seat belts. We had a ghetto blaster. I remember m you know Michael Jackson Prince and uh play driving over to Caliente or Panaca and Pioche and playing little league but just the smell of gas fumes and music you know and just remembering you know being a club parent to my daughters and hearing about some accidents that have happened between Southern California and Las Vegas in these traveling for sports. I just remember back then being in the back of a truck and realizing later, oh my gosh, what would have happened if you know there would have been an accident. But it was a great way to be raised. And so 25 years in the rural and then 25 years in urban Las Vegas, uh where I built a communications company unlike nobody, you know, it's it's a first of its kind. Four state wireless network that focuses on public safety, school districts, construction, security. Um, so we, you know, I've got a great career in servicing rural Nevada when it comes to communications and then of course coaching football and my daughters in softball have developed a sports community that travels all the way through northern Clark County um into Pahrump. A lot of the girls out of Pahrump came in and played with our club team. Girls out of Moapa and Mesquite would play with us. So, you know, this great history of being in in the district is what I'm really focusing our campaign on and um you know, excited about running for rural Nevada, Congressional District 4, which is my, my home. So . . .
• 4:09
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: Crystal: Yeah. And we're always trying to bridge this divide between rural and urban Nevada. And sometimes it feels like an impossible task because we're so far different from each other. It's it's hard to find a connection. What I love about you is you've got a foot in both worlds. I do. Just yesterday you're at the NRC with Ken Paxton and two days before that you were weaning calves out. Yeah. Which is I think really it's under appreciated.
• 4:38
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: Whipple: Giving shots of ivermectin and and know we try it's all natural. We do a program through Superior that's VAC 45, which really means that we have quality cattle heading out to uh Midwest for oats and wheat or to the to the feed lot. So, we really take care of our cattle. We got a great product and it it means a lot to be part of that 1% that feeds the 99.
• 5:03
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: Scott: Right. Right. Well, and that's that's one of the issues that we found that was so interesting. Of course, Crystal works within the agricultural water sector herself.
• 5:16
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: Crystal: Farmers and ranchers.
• 5:21
  really remote local high schools and Crystal: the largest farm crop in Nevada is actually hay. Yep. For feed stock, right? And uh you know that's that's sort of an interesting issue where we have cattle, they're primarily meat cattle here. We don't do a lot of dairy cattle and in the hay stuff, but that's actually connecting us sort of globally through what a lot of people, particularly in urban environments, seems sort of a backwards industry.
• 5:43
  Whipple: When you have the growing conditions that we have in Nevada with the sunlight, the water and the weather, we're able to produce a premium crop of alfalfa that can go international. It can go to Japan or it can go east coast. It can go south. A lot of times when there's a drought in the south, they take a lot of the hay out of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada to uh keep those southern droughts from selling off all those herds. So, you know, that crop once it's bailed can go anywhere because it's a lot of dry matter. And then if you're in the feed industry, uh feeding cattle is all about dry matter. I'm not saying it's, you know, powdered protein, but you know, close to it, right? It can travel and and it has a shelf life. Mhm. So, yeah. And right now, a lot of the Nevada stock, like I said, going to East Coast, but I guess Japan's one of our biggest markets right now. Japan with cubes and hay, actual hay, because it's it's a, you know, to produce milk, you have to have alfalfa. Um, a lot of, you know, in the beef industry, we rely on a lot of supplements like citrus pulp and beet pulp and brewer grains and things that can be used uh secondarily, right? It's there's a primary use even like the ethanol producers with the with the byproduct of producing all that corn is then fed through the cattle industry. But with dairy, dairy is very specific in that they try to stay with feeds that are, you know, from the farm. Hay, alfalfa grass, orchard grass, and those they can be shipped anywhere in the world because once you bail it, it's it's like a packaged mill, and they can ship it off to other parts of the world. Crystal: Yeah. And I'd like to push back a little bit on the unsophistication. I can't believe the lengths that ranchers and farmers go to in Nevada to be uh really efficient and produce a good product. And I know for a fact there are several dairy operations that have methane domes. They're capturing the methane. They're almost fully automated. Um what's the word for that?
• 7:45
  Whipple: Scott: Milkers.
• 7:48
  Crystal: The milkers. Yeah. Whipple: So the parlor, parlors are very sophisticated. A lot of the parlors have feed sources where much they're producing. They get a meal right there in the parlors which helps with production. So dairies are very sophisticated these days. They're ran very well. And you know again Nevada is a great place. You don't back east where I I when I graduated from Virginia Tech which is part of that other I didn't you know me going from Nevada rural Nevada to Connecticut in prep school and then Virginia Tech where I went to animal science played football uh for Coach Beamer. Um but when I was there grad after graduating animal science I worked with dairies and beef and the beef industry in the mid-Atlantic and the one problem they deal with that we don't have is every they rely on rainwater. So think about everything's always wet they never get to really sanitize and clean and out here we can control we don't have a lot of rain water we don't have a lot of wash, you know, wash off so out here we're able to control the conditions a lot more. And in the end, I think your largest dairies in the country are out west because they're able to manage those. And anytime you get that many animals around, you can't, you know, take care of them because the sun's taking care of a lot of the evaporation.
• 9:12
  Crystal: Scott: Right.
• 9:18
  Crystal: really big right now, particularly beef and the the Argentine imports that were just authorized. To me, this was Trump's way of trying to break up the BRICS countries and those alliances by giving Argentina a little bit of favor, but it seems to be hurting our cattle here or at least that's the media perception. How big of a hit was, was that Argentine import?
• 9:36
  Crystal: Whipple: From, from what I witnessed, you know, I listened to R-CALF and a different you know, there was a drop in the fats and feeder market, but not in the bred stock. And so there was a reaction. It was, I think, 20 or 30 cents, which is a normal reaction to a market adjustment that uh adding more beef. But I think there's . . . Well, yeah. Yeah. With fats and feeders. But the . . . you still have the Mexican border, you know, there's no cattle coming in from Mexico. And I believe that the price of beef was alarming, you know, and and I I saw Vivek Ramaswamy, uh I can't really say his last name, but he was talking about where we as Republicans need to go with affordability.
• 10:22
  Crystal: Crystal: Well, Vivek Ramaswamy.
• 10:29
  Crystal: I was just calling V. And so affordability is what we as Republicans and my part of my the biggest part of my campaign is supporting Nevada families and affordability, attainability is a big part of that. But I'm sure President Trump, he's a magnificent businessman, with tariffs and the way that he's working internationally building our economy, felt like it was a good thing to reach out to Argentina. I believe that has helped us with the MCOOL, right? Mandatory country of origin labeling. And so with here in the country as producers, we've wanted that for a long time. We want Americans that buy our beef knowing what ranch it comes from, what state it comes from, and what kind of quality they're getting underneath that that plastic wrap in the in the supermarket. We want them to know they're getting the very best quality. And knowing that it came from a Utah, Colorado, Nevada ranch is what we've been wanting a long time. So even though we allowed some beef in, I think we're going to get that mandatory labeling that we've been wanting for a long time. Crystal: Okay.
• 11:46
  Crystal: of Oregon, origin really started in the late 90s, around 2000 with the Mad Cow Disease outbreak where European countries started really pushing it.
• 11:52
  Crystal: Whipple: I think that, you know . . .
• 11:59
  Crystal: at that time period?
• 11:59
  Crystal: Whipple: It definitely, it definitely buy beef?
• 12:04
  Crystal: Whipple: Well, but that was a, that was a Great Britain problem. And the problem that they were doing is they were feeding meat and bone meal back into the beef herd.
• 12:09
  Crystal: Scott: Right.
• 12:13
  Crystal: United States, we've been signing for 20 plus years, uh, guarantees that we're not feeding. And in Nevada, all we do is range and grass. So, for us, it's very easy. But in other areas of the country where they have a source of protein, they have been, they have put it uh into the feed source and that's been removed long ago. But in Europe, um, and this is why you need to understand I, you know, one of my stories I tell is I was after Virginia Tech, I started my MBA at East Tennessee State and one of my good friends there was from Russia and he told me a story about, you know, and this is why it's so important last night's election, understanding what socialism is. He knew that he'd been lied to his entire life the minute he walked into a grocery store in the United States. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you got to understand that in other parts of the country, part of the world, I mean, beef there is like an old dairy cow, you know, they're, you know, they're reusing an old dairy cow where that generally in the United States is going to dog food or something. We have such a great product. And so . . . .
• 13:16
  Crystal: Crystal: The cow, the cow's only good at about year
• 13:23
  two is when you harvest beyond that. Whipple: Japan, I think, is anything under 22 months of age. Yeah, they're very young. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to finish a beef and once it a certain age, 22. So, you know, you work with all these different countries what they want with the beef industry. We've always been great meat producer for the world and to know that story, personal story. I walked in the grocery store and know how how great we have it. I mean, you know, have you ever had a bad ribeye at the Basque Restaurant there, The Star?
• 13:57
  two is when you harvest beyond that. Whipple: Scott: No. one in Winnemucca.
• 14:06
  Crystal: The Martin.
• 14:06
  Crystal: Whipple: I would love to be there. I go see what they have to offer, but I never miss a meal at The Star.
• 14:18
  Crystal: York. You know, going back at least to the 19 . . . late 1950s, we have the Kitchen Debates, Moscow you know. Um, but you know, one of the one of the . . . Whipple: But that's a little bit before my time.
• 14:29
  Scott: Right? No, no, no. But I, but this story this story has resonance because that's one of the things of a lot of people coming from other countries tend to come because because the perception is the United States, you know, stricken by poverty everybody, eats horribly, then they walk in American grocery store and here's fresh produce and good meat like what what on earth is this, right? It's a very shocking thing for a lot of people.
• 14:55
  Scott: Whipple: It's a wake up, it's an instantaneous wake-up call right that Crystal: There's a different iteration of that was kind of interesting when vets come home from war.
• 15:06
  Scott: Whipple: Yes.
• 15:10
  Scott: choices.
• 15:10
  Scott: Scott: There's too many choices.
• 15:18
  Scott: we have so many conveniences and it is nice to remind people like, this is an incredible feat. The
• 15:24
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Right. Well, and you know, we're having debates about that with this the ongoing shutdown and SNAP and whatnot. Shutdown is hopefully over by time this drops. Um, but that's an interesting issue. I want to get back to here running for CD-4 again. It's, it's a district that, you know, large part rural, significant urban population. How is it campaigning across that divide?
• 15:51
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Whipple: It's very difficult. It's very difficult. Uh, you're used to working at a workstation in front of your PC and getting a lot of work done. So, the minute you get on the road, that ends. Um, and you know, I had a consultant tell me, "Hey, you need to get a driver." So, you park and I'm It's not going to do good because get down in the rurals and services are just not the same as in Clark, you know, Clark County. Even driving to Mesquite, I don't know what it is, but just driving outside of Las Vegas by change regions or sites or whatever, you drop phone calls every single time. So, you know, it's difficult to get out of, out of Clark County, but to me, for me, it's just a breath of fresh air. I drive that way. It's like that feeling going towards home, or Tonopah, or Laughlin. I mean, for me, I like to get out into the rurals because I have so many wonderful memories of all the come-up competition and FFA meetings that were created by getting out on the road, of getting throughout District Four. Especially because near and dear to my heart and meeting the people and the families that I've known for so long. That's what's exciting about being able to have the chance at representing the district. It's not easy. It's big. I mean, seven and a half hours from Lake Las Vegas to Smith Mountain, or I'm sorry, Smith Valley, Nevada.
• 17:22
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: But, you know, it's exciting. The thing that the thing that is shocking to me how big the district is and 91% of the voters are still in Clark County. 91%.
• 17:30
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Scott: Well, that's that's the odd thing about Nevada. Nevada's simultaneously the most rural and the most urban state in the nation. We have the largest percentage of our population in urban areas, but probably the lowest population density overall in the state.
• 17:52
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Whipple: That I that that's I think such an important part over the next 50 years. Fifty years in Clark County has been look, look what Las Vegas has become. But we're almost to the point here where people are moving up I-15, down to Laughlin, to Bullhead. Look what's happened in Northern Arizona look what's happened southern Utah, Vegas has spawned all that and so I'm really looking for some of that to go up into rural Nevada and hoping for the same effects, businesses, families, jobs. That's what's exciting about the resources that we have her. I think there's a there's a discussion to be had about, you know, everybody's so dependent on the Colorado River. Maybe moving some of that agriculture that depends on that river to the, you know, out into other areas in the west where there's vast valleys and there's water resources, leaving the river, you know, to build up the reservoirs. You know, understanding that we do have a great climate. Obviously Yuma is a lot of the water they're using on the southern end of Colorado River. All that produce my opinion we can have the discussion, the alfalfa farmers, produce farmers maybe spreading that out and working with them.
• 19:17
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Crystal: That's an interesting idea to move the farms. Now do you envision that being BLM or conversion?
• 19:24
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Whipple: So it depends where you're at. Crystal: Because you know how much you have to invest into a farmland, right?
• 19:32
  grocery store is an incredible feat. Scott: Whipple: Yeah. But if but think about the amount of the amount of
• 19:40
  Scott: No, sorry. I was trying to tell you just go on and we'll just pan over and just focus on Sorry.
• 19:48
  Whipple: With the opportunity. See, I see it as uh, you know, being conservative and and using the best of the resources when you're able to, you know, something that's being so heavily utilized and take, you know, do a little bit of preservation with that Colorado River and moving those into Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and just, you know, getting a little bit more what do they call it, right? you're you're able to spread it out a
• 20:22
  little bit so that you're not so dependent in one area or the other. Crystal: Sure.
• 20:22
  little bit so that you're not so dependent in one area or the other. Crystal: Whipple: And just become a little bit more diversified in the west. That I think that would be a benefit to the west coast and the development of all this food and resources. As far as the argument about BLM and federal lands, you know, I got I went out to DC, got to sit down with actual cattle. I had sat down with some different groups. Okay. Where are we at with this federal lands? Where are we at with the federal lands? I know Mike Lee had his bill at the Senate, and Crystal: Yeah, from Utah.
• 20:58
  little bit so that you're not so dependent in one area or the other. Crystal: Amodei jumped in and got kind of slapped back, which I was thankful that he jumped in. That was kind of more around Fallon. Um, but I I think that's something that with this Western Caucus, as a congressman, working with the congresswomen and men, and in the district, you know, the Western Caucus, we can come up with a plan. And I hate to see all federal land move to the state because, you know, like last night's election, do I trust a governor that, you know, I disagree with so much? And so I think we need to be very careful about what we do at the be strategic with it. If it's for farming, if it's for attainable housing, affordable housing, you know, those are things that we can discuss and come together and and make a great proposal. But as far as just across the board . . .
• 21:48
  Crystal: Right?
• 21:48
  Crystal: Whipple: I mean, who I've worked with the BLM for relationship. Do I trust them at all times? I saw I was witness to what happened up in Bunkerville, right?
• 22:03
  Crystal: Crystal: It's fine when it comes to a It's a fairly easy relationship. Once you start putting infrastructure in the ground, the thing you can't own, that's where it becomes like it becomes difficult where you want. It's almost like you'd want to just convert the valleys because that's where . . .
• 22:17
  Crystal: Whipple: Well, it's what they're doing with all the solar right now. I hate seeing solar put all over our beautiful valley. I think we could get a whole lot more out of nuclear energy or geothermal or something and can actually produce 24 / 7 / 365 with solar. There are limitations to solar. That's a big expense.
• 22:34
  Crystal: Crystal: 93's got that ginormous going out.
• 22:41
  Crystal: Whipple: That's right. That's right past home. And now 95 has a big solar project, right?
• 22:47
  Crystal: Scott: We're starting to see it uh at the other end of 93 going up a bit towards Idaho.
• 22:55
  Crystal: Musk said about the Four Corners area. There's not a whole lot of population there. He said that they could build a structure there that could essentially power three to four states.
• 23:04
  Scott: Mhm.
• 23:04
  Scott: Whipple: But you know, it's kind of the same saying, not in my backyard, right?
• 23:07
  Scott: Scott: Right.
• 23:16
  Scott: and we've talked about this a bit, one of the things I'm seeing that issue is it's becoming another extractive industry for rural Nevada. So, the solar plants are going in and that energy is actually being sold out of the state, right? And you know, that is under a power crunch particularly with AI as well. So it's a it's a tough thing.
• 23:35
  Scott: Whipple: I think that's where it's important that we get back to a more balance of federal elected officials. I think the race of CD-4 is critical. It's critical that we get, you know, we get a senator. We need to get some more Congress men and women to represent Nevada because right now it's, everything's Las Vegas.
• 23:54
  Scott: Scott: Well, and that's that's something else I think that's interesting about the CD-4 race. Not only sort of the dynamics, but the issues themselves, right? So, so one of the things we've talked about, I'd like to hear some more of your thoughts on this is, you know, US-95, US-93 big feeder routes that cut across CD-4 rural areas that are increasingly primary north-south pathways to service Las Vegas. And you have a Las Vegas dominated state government and Department of Transportation that doesn't want to spend on improving them.
• 24:33
  Scott: Whipple: Yeah. It's the corridor between Phoenix and Idaho right now. We just don't, in those rural areas, we just don't have the services to respond. Trying to get people to respond out of Clark County, you know, they get 10 miles outside of Clark County and they start where do they go? They they kind of aren't used to dealing with the rural environment like we are. And so I just believe that somebody that understands it very well like I do, um you know, we can get some turn, you know, some passing lanes, we can get some rest stops, we can get some services along these highways that will add to the . . . that we can manage this traffic a little bit more because we want the truck traffic. That's great business. Wells, and Ely and Alamo--we need that truck traffic. But we want to be able to manage it a lot better. So, we need to upgrade some of our response and services and we need to upgrade the highways. We need to and get some rest stops. Too many people are falling asleep. I mean, how many times have you been driving on these roads and you hit the da-da-da-da and and you know, it I'm glad that we have the rumble strips.
• 25:40
  Scott: rumble strips.
• 25:40
  Scott: Whipple: But, you know, I think we need a lot more than that.
• 25:46
  Whipple: It helps. I mean, it it helps for sure.
• 25:46
  Whipple: Crystal: So, you were put in more towers along that route because I you were like what you were saying earlier, you you get a driver, but you really can't get that much more work done, right? It's a six hour drive. I can maybe get an hour of internet, in patches.
• 26:04
  Whipple: Whipple: I would like to see Elon Musk uh come up with a rural Starlink patch.
• 26:10
  Whipple: Crystal: Yeah. Yeah.
• 26:17
  Whipple: I mean I started with Global Star and Iridium and I know all about these communication. Starlink is one that has really revolutionized being in the rurals. It's a phenomenal product.
• 26:23
  Whipple: Crystal: It revolutionized pivot communication.
• 26:28
  Whipple: Whipple: Yeah.
• 26:33
  Whipple: not necessarily an eyeshot. You don't know your pivot shut down sometimes for a while. But now we can communicate.
• 26:38
  Whipple: Whipple: As great as his product carriers. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile need services, which will lead to better corridor communications and that's what needs to happen. We have to have it. We need more options. Competition leads to better quality. And so we're looking for that in the rurals. And having that understanding, I I could that's that's another federal lands issue. We can take federal lands and put these communication sites along the corridors and we can come up with some grants that allow for a construction the solar if it's out if there's no power there we we can tap some of that solar. Solar's great in communications it's very reliable it charges up the batteries the batteries provides power communication site. And so, you know, do we do it every 20 miles, do we do it you know there's there's a discussion to be had there in in the West, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada. We need better communication so that people are inclined to head out of these urban areas. You know, they're so used to having 24 / 7 / 365 communications, tracking, GPS. And the more we have that in rural areas, we can kind of, you know, bring those two worlds together.
• 27:57
  Scott: So, so I guess part of the question then is of course the Congress is a good way to do this because you really have to talk about vast areas and across jurisdictional bounds. Um, and so the House and the Senate are perfectly suited for that, but you also have uh I would argue a national political culture and certainly a national bureaucracy that only sees stuff from an urban perspective, right? And so even though their their beef supplies and everything are coming down rural 93, if the choice comes to somebody in Las Vegas, do we add a passing lane somewhere in 93 to make more efficient transfers or an extra uh exit lane to get to the the football stadium? Yeah. Right. That football stadium exit lane every time. Right. Yeah. How do you how do you how do you balance that? How do you convince them that no, your infrastructure is actually in the rural area?
• 28:50
  Scott: know, knowing what I know and having lived it, uh, I I got a great understanding naturally. However, but what I would like to do is just go to the elected officials and really as a congressman, all I can do is push forward what local elected officials want, right? I have my own ideas, right? But commissioners and n county commissioners and Lincoln County commissioners, you know, just because Elko's not in my district doesn't mean I'm not going to listen to them.
• 29:18
  Whipple: I have a great love for all of Nevada. And so, you know, let's just say let's take the top three in, you know, important issues of every county commissioner and hopefully some of them are the same so that we're not doing, you know, 13 by three. You know, I mean, we can kind of zero that in to the top 10 and really focus on rural Nevada, those top 10 that are going to help everybody. And so I I think that's the only real and then you got you know you got to make the friendships with the surrounding elected congressmen and women as well to make them their ideas you know that we can kind of work together in that maybe we could see a lot of a lot of great things happening for some and beyond too as well.
• 30:02
  Whipple: Scott: Yeah. Right.
• 30:09
  Whipple: think that's pretty obvious. I think we should take some time talking about who you're trying to unseat.
• 30:13
  Whipple: Whipple: Yeah.
• 30:18
  Whipple: not like about what he's done?
• 30:18
  Whipple: Whipple: You know, let's start with the know, I think the Big Beautiful Bill with no tax on tax on over time, no tax on, you know, that was a great start for Nevada. We have such a service related industry that that applies to. He voted against it. You know, he voted against recognizing Charlie Kirk. I think that's a that one is, you know, that's a human issue. Um, you know, and he's voted Crystal: What do you mean he didn't recognize Charlie. Was there some legislative sessions?
• 30:54
  Whipple: Whipple: Yeah, they they they um they that he's done. Honestly, I think Charlie Kirk was one of . . . in my generation. Imean, I kind of compare that to um what you know, a Martin Luther King, somebody that was so pivotal in their message, right? Yeah. And I think Charlie Kirk had an unbelievable message bringing people to uh to get get active and to God. I mean, he had an incredible effect and and for him to vote against simple as something as simple as that, recognizing what this young man did in his time and uh so I I think there's just fundamental differences here and I think it's going to take . . .
• 31:42
  Whipple: He was well not really because you you have I mean there was other I I mean uh Horsford is to the left. He's way to the left. Um, you talk to the commissioners out in rural Nevada in the district and they he won't take meetings. You talk to people in DC and there's this perception of he just kind of stays out of the he just stays out of the he's just really not doing his job.
• 32:08
  Crystal: The Democratic MO, though.
• 32:08
  Crystal: Whipple: His standard operating and tell everything that the president's doing wrong. And he, you know, the president is the only one I see really working. This man is the Energizer Bunny. He goes and goes and goes and goes and if you disagree with him, probably going to be a problem. If you agree with him, he's doing a great job. So um um he basically he does Stephen Horsford doesn't represent anything outside of North Las Vegas.
• 32:40
  Crystal: Scott: Right.
• 32:47
  Crystal: same for too long. And I believe the district is ready for a change. They're ready for a change. I'm a Nevadan that's going to replace the old Nevadan that will not leave North Las Vegas. I plan to represent the entire district. I spoke to the Shepherd's Breakfast the other morning. Had a great meeting with them. Um, black pastors, you know, I I was able to communicate with them. I I have this history of being elbow to elbow, you know, um hand to hand with my teammates at Virginia Tech or Connecticut and prep school. And so I I just believe I'm the best candidate to represent the entire district, not Republican, the best Nevadan to represent the district. And let let's stop labeling. I I hate the parties labeling people and candidates. And right now, I'm the best Nevadaan for the job. And that's why we're going to be able to have a great election in 26. We're going to be able to make progress in 27 and 28 and really try to get Nevada moving in the right direction. Whereas I think we've just kind of, you know, my wife tells me all the time, the evolution of a city is when you finally get professional sports and then you start coming down the other side. And I don't like that. Scott: Yeah.
• 34:00
  Crystal: this wonderful state moving into greater, you know, pastures, greener pastures and and having, you know, but I really do believe it. It has a lot to do with what's going to happen with these natural resources in the rural part of Nevada. I I really do believe there's a relationship that has to be had there.
• 34:18
  Crystal: Scott: Right.
• 34:22
  Crystal: because the legislature is so close to becoming a super majority and we need people going, "Hey, no room for error. We got to we got to have a good plan. We got to get this and go." And I really haven't seen that from a lot of other candidates. There's a lot of great candidates and Republicans are have a really strong showing, but they're kind of like going with the flow at this point. You're the only one out there kind of going, "We got real issues to fix.
• 34:43
  Crystal: Whipple: We have things and this is what I've what I've as as somebody that's new to politics um and I I don't even like to call it that. I'm just this is a job interview. I'm the Nevadan that wants to work for Nevada. Um I've learned a lot about both parties in doing this and I've learned that both parties have their positives and their negatives and I'm trying to um reach out to everyone and saying, "Hey, this does take everybody's participation. Everybody needs to vote. You know, I want everybody to believe that I'm going to do the right thing when they're not watching.
• 35:19
  Crystal: so that's the type of fortitude and grit that I want to bring to this race.
• 35:19
  Crystal: Scott: Right.
• 35:26
  Crystal: you have kids and did you did you wind up sending them to the public school system here or did you go to charter?
• 35:32
  Crystal: Whipple: My we uh our our children went to but I did send them because of this firm belief of school choice.
• 35:38
  Crystal: Crystal: Yeah.
• 35:45
  Crystal: even Alamo, Nevada, which you know, Pahranagat Valley has a great school system and but is it at the level that I needed for sports and education, right? I wanted to see what was available. My uh my oldest brother that was at U Penn, found a prep school and I went to that prep school and that led to greater things. And so for my children, I wanted that same effect. I wanted that effect of being in being around uh educators being around students that were going to be our leaders. And so I I had I sent them to a private school named Faith Lutheran. I was able to coach um football there and the education they received uh surpassed everything that we could ever have expected. Like children have went to college and they're doing fantastic. they're they they they they just where they get to college and continue to excel because of the base that was created at that private school and for you know part of my platform of supporting Nevada families is a big part of that is school choice where students and parents can make that decision and and I don't think you can have school choice without a voucher system. I think you've got to be able to you know if you want to pack up your bag and go elsewhere that's got to be an option.
• 37:02
  Crystal: when I travel the state and talk to people that's always top two issues is the school district and especially in Clark County got 300,000 students and it's the fifth largest in the country which always lends itself to a lot of bureaucratic bloat and our performance standards are, are really low. I I keep trying to figure out I mean what I figured out how to contribute to this is to offer parents opt out forms so they can have some control over what's being taught to their kids but ultimately it feels like . . .
• 37:33
  Crystal: Whipple: Moms for Liberty. Moms that and um but I I think it's bigger than that. I mean . . .
• 37:38
  Crystal: Crystal: Yeah, that's what I was saying. There should be a bigger thing to I think it's the size.
• 37:43
  Crystal: Whipple: If you if you want a trade school, you know, I really do believe that uh that families, you know, my children, they were so much further along than I was because they had laptops and iPhones and things that really progressed their understanding of of education a lot quicker. And I I so I think we're learning faster now. We may not be learning as much, but they're able to go and make that decision to go to those, you know, you know, put a target on what they want to do and start heading there in a in in much faster rate.
• 38:19
  Crystal: Crystal: Yeah, I do like that you start to see some of these technical high schools where kids are testing in, they can go to science or music and really specialize.
• 38:32
  Scott: So, Cody, this has been a great conversation. Can you go ahead and give us a social media if
• 38:36
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: Sure. So, uh, Cody Whipple, candidate for Fourth District in Nevada here. Uh, our website is codyk4congress.com. That's the number four. And we have, uh, Instagram, we have Facebook, we have X. We're very active, uh, in the campaign right now. So, we have lots of activities. We're going to have a big event coming up November 17th for Monday Night Football, which is very near to my heart. Lots of football.
• 38:58
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: Crystal: Big screens.
• 39:04
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: Cowboys out at the uh, draft house. Big Dogs on Rancho right in the heart of the district. Okay. Um we're we're having other events. We're in a parade next Tuesday in Logandell. So, we're just out there trying to meet voters. We're trying to meet you where you're at. Um and want to hear your issues. Uh you know, I I've been successful as a businessman and a rancher, a husband, and I want to do I want Nevadans to have what I had, and I'm willing to work for that. I this is a great place to raise a family, a great place to have a career, and uh District 4 is my home. So, I I need your vote in June. I I'm going to turn around and need your vote in November. And I appreciate your time today, Scott and Crystal. I appreciate this. Any opportunity to talk about Nevada, I enjoy.
• 39:49
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: Crystal: Yeah, thanks for coming.
• 39:55
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: If you have questions for Crystal and I, go ahead and shoot us an email at info@775alive.com.
• 40:01
  anybody wants to get a hold of you? Whipple: Until then, I'm Scott Gavorsky. And I'm Crystal Newton. We'll see you around the 775.