Scott Ashjian

Jon Scott Ashjian (born 1964), commonly known as Scott Ashjian, was the candidate of the Tea Party of Nevada in the race for United States Senate in the 2010 Nevada general election. He resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he works as a businessman, paving contractor, and real estate investor, and is owner of an asphalt company. Ashjian filed his candidacy papers for the Tea Party, a registered minor party in Nevada, on March 2, 2010. Ashjian's U.S. Senate candidacy was challenged in court in April 2010, and Carson City, Nevada district judge James Todd Russell ruled that he could stay on the ballot. This decision was appealed, and the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision on October 6, 2010 that Ashjian would remain on the November 2010 ballot for U.S. Senate.

Sourced

• I'm here to say there is a choice. If you want to stick to the status quo, pick the Republicans or Democrats, but don't complain. Nobody can do a better job than I can.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 8, 2010). "Tea Party hopeful - gives voters third choice". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• I'm a frustrated patriot. I'm not a politician. I'm not savvy with radio and TV. But I believe I can make a change, and that's what I'm here for. I'm here to give people a third choice.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 8, 2010). "Tea Party hopeful - gives voters third choice". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• We're not Republican or Democrat. We won't fold into one party or the other. We're a tax-paying party that can make a difference and a party of normal people who want change. Bigger government and higher taxes is not working. Right now we're at a real crossroads to make change, and the bottom line is there's never been so much disdain for politicians.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 8, 2010). "Tea Party hopeful - gives voters third choice". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• The political race is for the rich. Why would (politicians) want to spend X millions of dollars on a campaign? It has to be for political gain. That disconnect is why I'm running for office.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 8, 2010). "Tea Party hopeful - gives voters third choice". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• By them saying I should fall in line is an insult. I'm not asking for an invitation. I think they should get behind me, not fall in line like sheep. They're so paranoid, it makes me think they have weak candidates and they're afraid. The more they attack, the more they show their hand, and I mean that across party lines. It's not politics as usual. We're running a different campaign, and they're scared to death.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 18, 2010). "Tea Party activists say candidate uninvited". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• I am running because I love my country and Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama are ruining it. It is time to take our country back and I am asking you to join me in this fight.
  • Smith, John L. (March 23, 2010). "Critics play whack-a-mole with Tea Party of Nevada candidate". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• The GOP is trying to co-opt the Tea Party. That is one of the reasons I did what I did. I don't see a difference between Democrats and Republicans.
  • Vogel, Ed (April 16, 2010). "Ruling allows Ashjian to run on Tea Party of Nevada ticket". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 5B. 

• I will pick up a large percentage of votes on both sides (Republican and Democrat) and those in the middle.
  • Vogel, Ed (May 14, 2010). "Party announces appeal over Ashjian's candidacy". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 2B. 

• [Sharron Angle] said, 'I can't win without you getting out of the race.' But I said I couldn't. I'm going to beat Harry Reid.
  • Myers, Laura (October 1, 2010). "Ashjian not leaving race". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

About

• Jon Scott Ashjian … recently made a splash in news reports and Internet blogs by creating a third party, the Tea Party of Nevada, a group dedicating itself to the popular conservative movement.
  • Jourdan, Kristi (March 8, 2010). "Tea Party hopeful - gives voters third choice". Las Vegas Review-Journal: p. 1B. 

• I believe you can do some real harm, not to Harry Reid but to me…I’m not sure you can win and I’m not sure I can win if you’re hurting my chance and that’s the part that scares me.
  • Sharron Angle to Scott Ashjian, recorded conversation — reported in Ralston, Jon (October 3, 2010). "Angle: 'I’m not sure I can win' if Ashjian’s in, nat’l GOPers 'have lost their principles,' need to 'leave me alone'". Las Vegas Sun (Greenspun Media Group). Retrieved on 2010-10-14. 

• The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that U.S. Senate candidate Scott Ashjian's name should stay on the November election ballot despite challenges to his qualifications.
  • Garcia, Oskar (October 6, 2010). "Nev. Supreme Court: Ashjian's name stays on ballot". Associated Press. 

• Both the Republican and Tea Party nominees are listed side by side on the Nevada ballot and, ironically, the difference in the race could be the handful of points secured by the Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian, at the expense of Republican Sharron Angle.
  • David Paleologos — reported in Drake, Bruce (October 13, 2010). "Scott Ashjian's Tea Party Candidacy Still a Factor in Nevada Senate Contest". Politics Daily (AOL News). Retrieved on 2010-10-14. 

External links

• Scott Ashjian for the U.S. Senate, official website
• Scott Ashjian, at Project Vote Smart
• Constitution and Bylaws of the Tea Party of Nevada, Office of the Nevada Secretary of State. Retrieved July 29, 2010.