Ponderosa Dairy General Manager Ed Goedhart, who is a Republican candidate for the Nevada Assembly, District 36, got walloped in an apparently unprovoked incident Thursday night.

Goedhart was blindsided by a stranger and sustained a concussion after being knocked off his bar stool.

He had left the scene before Nye County Sheriff's deputies arrived and returned to Amargosa Valley. Deputies found a man "in need of medical attention" as a result of the altercation, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The bar was the Town Hall Bar at Mesquite Avenue and Leslie Street. Goedhart has been the only witness thus far to come forth with an account of the incident.

According to his story, Goedhart had arrived at the bar about 11:30 p.m. after an evening of campaigning and attending other candidates' events. He walked in, sat down on a stool and began chatting with someone he knew. He became aware of two men talking across the room when one of them asked Goedhart if he was talking about them.

The next thing he knew, he was knocked out of his chair and onto the floor by one of the "thugs," Goedhart said.

Hit in the temple, Goedhart said, "I stumbled to my feet and made for the door and drove back to Amargosa Valley." From there he called the Sheriff's Office.

Asked about the deputies' discovery of a man needing medical attention, Goedhart added: "I took one swing at him, as any American would do in self-defense, so I could get to the door." He also allowed that a chair was thrown by someone and a pool cue came into play as well during the ensuing melee.

Goedhart said the incident was completely unprovoked. "It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

Goedhart said he went to the hospital in Winnemucca where he got a CAT scan, since he had a campaign engagement the following day. He said he experienced some swelling as a result of post-concussion syndrome.

"It makes you a little less trusting as a public figure," he said of the incident. "I'm a big, strong guy and I just dusted myself off.

"I'm a big guy, able to take a licking and keep on ticking," he added. "I drink lots of milk so I have strong bones."