Republican U.S. Senate candidates visit Minden

Republican Nevada Senate candidate Tony Grady was in Minden last week to speak at the Douglas County Republican Women meeting at Valley Christian Fellowship.

Grady is running against a field of nine other Republican candidates including U.S. Army veteran Sam Brown, who spoke at Wednesday’s Sierra Nevada Republican Women meeting.

“I got into politics because I did not like the fact that there was a disconnect between the high-tech companies that Northern Nevada is trying to attract and the way we were training our children,” he said. “The school system isn’t very good and we’re not training a workforce that could fill those high-tech jobs. So I thought I could do something about it.”

Grady first was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in 1977 and retired after 20 years. He became a test pilot when the B-2 Bomber was developed, eventually becoming a head test pilot for the T-1A Jayhawk. After his military service, he joined FedEx in 1997 and worked as a pilot and instructor. He worked at the Pentagon and provided a U.S. bomber contribution to the President’s budget. He has been awarded multiple medals for his service.

Grady, whose father developed schools in Nigeria and Thailand, said he grew up exposed to other governments operating under communism or socialism.

“They rendered their people to abject poverty, so we don’t want any part of that here in the U.S.,” he said.

Eventually, Grady and his wife, who had been living in Dayton, Ohio, settled in Reno at the suggestion of a friend from Fallon he had flown with at FedEx. Nevada offered a warmer climate and friendly environment. He became involved with the Reno Air Races, eventually becoming director of flight operations.

“We liked the mountains, we liked the sunshine, but what we really liked were the people,” he said of the Silver State.

Grady ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 and lost to Stavros Anthony in the primary election, although he won in 13 of the 17 counties.

“The big problem was not enough people in Clark County knew who I was,” he said. “I did win Washoe, which I was living in. This time around, I’m running because I don’t like the direction the country’s going in.”

Grady said he’s concerned about helping Nevada and the nation become energy independent which, in turn, would impact price reduction in other areas, such as groceries, housing and other everyday concerns for Americans.

As Senator, if elected, he also has his eyes on other areas of involvement on behalf of Nevadans, he said.

He also hopes to improve communication about military presence overseas and convey what war objectives look like using his background as a test pilot. Grady lamented the deaths of the three U.S. service members killed from Georgia and the 40 others injured in Jordan following an aerial system attack near a Syrian border in support of Operation Inherent Resolve to aid in the defeat of ISIS on Jan. 28.

Grady, who said he’s visited every Nevada county since announcing his campaign last August, said he hopes residents will take the opportunity to see who he is.

“It’s not so much that I think I’m a know-it-all,” he said. “I think I can represent Nevadans well.”

For more information, visit gradyfornevada.com.