Joseph Charafi

Joseph Charafi earned a high school diploma from Valley High School and a bachelor's degree from the Art Institute of Colorado in 2010. His career experience includes working as a communications consultant.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm Joseph "Joey" Charafi, a Las Vegas small business owner, filmmaker, nonprofit leader, and father. I grew up in Las Vegas and have spent much of my professional life telling stories, building businesses, and working with community organizations.

I'm the founder and president of the Stop the Traffic Foundation, a nonprofit focused on combating human trafficking and protecting vulnerable children. That work has helped shape my belief that public service should be about solving problems, protecting people, and making government more accountable to the communities it serves.

I'm running for Assembly District 8 because I believe Nevada's next generation deserves safe communities, strong schools, economic opportunity, and a government that respects taxpayers and operates transparently.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Nevada taxpayers deserve to know where their money goes. I support greater transparency in state spending, accessible budget information, meaningful oversight, and accountability for government programs. Whether we are talking about education, healthcare, infrastructure, or economic development, taxpayers should be able to see what government is spending, why it is spending it, and whether the program is producing results.Protecting children is one of the main reasons I entered public service. My work fighting human trafficking has shown me how easily vulnerable children can fall through gaps between agencies and systems. I want Nevada to strengthen trafficking prevention and reporting, improve accountability within child welfare and foster care, support law enforcement and victim services, and make it easier for families to find help before a crisis becomes a tragedy.Nevada should be a place where someone can start a business, find a good job, raise a family, and build a future. I support policies that encourage entrepreneurship and private-sector job creation while keeping taxes and unnecessary regulatory burdens under control. I also want Nevada to diversify beyond its traditional industries by attracting technology, entertainment, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and other industries that can create long-term careers for Nevadans.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am particularly passionate about child safety and human trafficking prevention, education, government transparency, economic opportunity, foster care and child welfare reform, public safety, healthcare access, and responsible adoption of new technology. I am especially interested in policies where government agencies currently operate in separate silos. Some of our hardest problems require better coordination, better data, and clearer accountability rather than simply spending more money.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Veterans In Politics International; Nevada Veterans Association; NRA Political Action Fund, Save Nevada Pac