Candidates debate healthcare for Nevada primary

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

Editor’s note: This is part of a series previewing the congressional and statewide races in the Nevada primary election, set for June 9. The election will determine which Democrats and Republicans will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. These stories feature comments from candidates who agreed to interviews with The Center Square.

Candidates in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District are calling for reforms to healthcare ahead of the June 9 primary election.

U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nevada, is seeking a fifth term representing the district, which consists of southern Las Vegas and most of nearby Henderson.

In 2023, the Lugar Center at Georgetown University ranked Lee among the top 10 most bipartisan members of Congress. She has focused her campaign on healthcare reform and reducing drug prices.

“Leaders who choose to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans while cutting health care for families in need don’t deserve to be in office,” Lee wrote on social media.

Republicans have criticized Lee for her vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025. The legislation appropriated $50 billion for rural healthcare expansion. In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced more than $179 million of funds from the bill would go to expand healthcare in rural Nevada.

“Out-of-touch Democrats Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford chose partisan politics over rural Nevada, voting to kill $179 million in critical healthcare funding, while President Trump delivered real results for families Democrats keep ignoring,” said Christina Martinez, spokesman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Lee has more than $3.3 million in contributions for her congressional campaign, according to most recent filings from the Federal Elections Commission. Lee received $2,000 from a Boeing political action committee as well as multiple donations from Wells Fargo and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

James Lally, a cardiologist and Democratic candidate in the district race, criticized Lee for receiving donations from Israel-aligned PACs. He also said Lee has not done enough to fight back against President Donald Trump.

“Her motto is: ‘I’m the most bipartisan member of Congress,’ and that has not worked,’ ” Lally told The Center Square. “You cannot appease an authoritarian cult. You need to stand against them and fight back against them with everything you have.”

Lally has also called for a fundamental reform to the healthcare system. He said for-profit companies in healthcare have driven doctors away from the industry and hiked prices.

“It’s the corporate takeover of the American healthcare system,” Lally said. “That’s why healthcare costs are going up so much.”

He said programs like the 340B drug pricing have allowed hospitals to maximize profits at the expense of patients.

“This was supposed to be for more rural hospitals that were applying care to patients that had a harder time getting care, and everyone’s been abusing it to take money out of the healthcare system, billions of billions of dollars,” Lally said.

The Trump administration has sought to aggressively pursue fraud in federal benefit programs over the last year. In 2024, the federal government paid out $83 billion in overcharges to the Medicare Advantage program.

“It’s not the straight up fraud that’s the problem. It’s the legal gaming of the system which Medicare just allows to happen that is a hundred times more of a problem than the fraud of people making up patients,” Lally said.

Lally has received more than $239,000 in contributions toward his campaign, according to the most recent FEC filings. However, Lally loaned $600,000 toward his campaign.

Republicans Marty O’Donnell, a video game sound producer, and Aury Nagy, a physician, are running for their party’s nomination in the district. O’Donnell was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

“O’Donnell is a World-Class Composer and Entrepreneur who knows the America First Policies required to Create GREAT Jobs, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote NO TAX ON TIPS, Advance MADE IN THE U.S.A., and Champion our Nation’s Golden Age,” Trump wrote.

O’Donnell has received more than $176,000 in campaign contributions and taken out $3 million in loans, according to most recent FEC filings. Most of O’Donnell’s campaign contributions have come from individual donations and the Bank of Nevada.

Nagy has focused his campaign on Trumpcare, an alternative healthcare plan that incentivizes mutual insurance plans in order to reduce premiums across the board. He also said the healthcare plan would reduce overall spending on healthcare in America.

“Trumpcare can fix American healthcare, without raising taxes, and restore our standing as the world’s leader in medical excellence,” Nagy wrote.

Nagy loaned his campaign $1.02 million and raised $55,000 in individual contributions, according to most recent FEC filings.

The Cook Political Report ranks Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District as “Lean Democrat,” which means the race is competitive despite Democrats having an advantage.

The Center Square reached out to Lee, O’Donnell and Nagy with requests for interviews, but did not hear back by press time.

Voting centers in Nevada are open now through June 5 across Nevada. Voters can also submit a mail-in ballot through the state’s universal mail-in ballot program. Polls are open on June 9 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, go to the Nevada Secretary of State’s website, nvsos.gov. Early election results will be published on the evening of June 9 at www.thecentersquare.com/nevada.