Cresent Hardy

In January 2018, Hardy announced his candidacy for his old congressional seat after Republican Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony dropped out of the race. He won the June 2018 Republican primary. In August 2018, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan campaigned for Hardy in Las Vegas.

Hardy ran for re-election in 2016. Hardy faced two challengers in the Republican primary in June 2016, winning 77.44% of the vote. In the general election, he faced Democratic state senator Ruben Kihuen. Kihuen defeated Hardy with 48.5% of the vote. While Hardy carried six of the district's seven counties, he could not overcome a 24,000-vote deficit in Clark County. After initially supporting Donald Trump's presidential bid, Hardy said in October 2016 he would not vote for Trump.

In 2016, Hardy and Terri Sewell (D-AL) introduced the Rural Health Enhancement and Long Term Health Act (HEALTH), intended to forestall the closure of rural hospitals.

In August 2016, Hardy was hospitalized after a heart attack that occurred while he was preparing to undergo a colonoscopy. The next day he returned to his re-election campaign. Doctors discovered he had been living with a collapsed artery on his heart, and they inserted two stents to repair it. Hardy said "I actually feel better than I've felt in quite some time."

Hardy ran as a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Nevada's 4th congressional district , held by Steven Horsford of the Democratic Party, in the 2014 election. Hardy defeated Horsford 48.5%-45.7%.

Hardy began his career in government by serving as the public works director in Mesquite, Nevada. He then became a member of the Virgin Valley Water District and a member of the Mesquite City Council. He was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 2010.

Cresent Leo Hardy (born June 23, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. Representative for Nevada's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Nevada Assembly from 2011 to 2015. He unseated one-term Democratic incumbent Steven Horsford in 2014, then lost his own bid for reelection in the 2016 general election to Democratic challenger Ruben Kihuen. Kihuen then retired after one term due to sexual misconduct allegations, so Hardy ran unsuccessfully for his old seat in 2018, losing to Horsford in a rematch.