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Scotty Babb, former head of the Nye County Libertarian Party, has filed as a Democrat to run for the Assembly District 36 position now held by Republican Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley.

Goedhart, a commodities broker at the Ponderosa Dairy, was profiled in the April 9 edition of the PVT.

Babb was raised in Oklahoma. He has lived in Pahrump for over six years and has been a Southern Nevada resident for the past 23.

He works at the Las Vegas Hilton as a dealer and a floor man, formerly known as a pit boss. He served on several Pahrump committees.

Babb briefly owned a store, Camelot, selling adult videos and novelties. He now sells rodeo equipment and western wear through an Internet site called Buffalo Ranch and Gifts, which features some racy photos of models in cowgirl apparel.

Babb said he was persuaded to run by Pahrump Town Board member Laurayne Murray after the Democratic caucus last January.

"I just look at this as a chance to serve. I really love Nevada, and it's been very good to me," Babb said.

The Nye County Libertarian Party disbanded when it couldn't get anything accomplished, Babb said. After that, he said he could never register as a Republican, given President Bush's record on civil liberties.

"I'm a social liberal but I'm a fiscal conservative. There's a lot of traits in the Democratic Party with social liberalism. Nowadays you can't tell them apart with fiscal responsibility, there is none," Babb said.

His Web site, www,scottybabb436.com, outlines his position on issues like energy, water, education and his support of the Second Amendment.

"My main priority is going to be trying to make Nevada the leader in the United States for being energy self-reliant. I think there's a lot of things we can do to get away from oil," Babb said.

He is thinking less about providing incentives for the alternative energy projects proposed in Nye County and more in making it affordable for people to install wind turbines and solar panels on their property.

"That would mean working with the people that are manufacturing those products now," Babb said. "They would have to sell their products at a lower price to Nevadans in order to sell them here. At the same time, we would make it easier for Nevadans to supplement the purchase."

Babb said he wants to reduce the prison population to save money.

"Over 50 percent of our prisoners ... are in for drug use and drug use only. It cost $50,000 per year or more to house one prisoner in the prison. So I see a huge area for savings there if we could make the non-violent prisoners actually pay for their own incarceration but put them in a different facility than a prison," he said.

Babb said since he filed for election he has been receiving questionnaires from special interest groups who want him to increase taxes. He spoke against the proposed tax hike on gaming.

"Raising taxes on one person is the same as another person. I'm very, very reluctant to raise taxes. I think there's a lot of waste out there we can take care of," Babb said.

While he acknowledged getting a better education when his mother remarried and they moved from Tulsa, Okla., out to the country where he attended school in a small class, Babb also sees waste in education. He cited as an example the construction of Hafen Elementary School, with a lot of frills like palm trees and beautiful glass brick.

"We don't need a palace for eight year-olds. We need to build government buildings safely and as least expensive as possible. It's the people's money we're dealing with here. It's not just a lump sum that came out of nowhere," Babb said.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires the school district to notify the military about each student who accepts even one dollar of federal money, Babb said. The solution?

"You can quit accepting federal funds until the No Child Left Behind Act is repealed. You're basically selling your kids," Babb said.

While he doesn't have experience in government, Babb said his opponent didn't have any experience when he ran for office. "It's too bad he didn't get anything accomplished while he was in office," Babb said.

Babb said he drove race cars and was an announcer at Pahrump Valley Speedway, where people began calling him "Scotty" instead of Scott. Babb boasted he was rookie of the year and another year placed second in point totals as a race car driver.

"I drove my own race car and was fairly successful. I decided to start a business and failed miserably the first time and the second time I learned from that and learned how to build a Web site. Self taught, I learned about all the tax codes, I learned about everything. I've always been the person who just goes into things, I jump in with two feet," Babb said.