My research for this relied heavily on the endorsements offered by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun, both of which I studied in detail. I also checked out some other organizations, such as Nevada Concerned Citizens‘ endorsements, my own comments from the primaries, and, of course, I googled each candidate and reviewed their web sites. Here’s what I came up with.
Ballot questions will be handled in another post.
SENATE
I won’t repeat everything I’ve already said here many times about this race, but suffice it to say…
Vote for: Sharron Angle
CONGRESS, DISTRICT 1
Kenneth Wegner has not campaigned aggressively, nor has the party supported him sufficiently. I love his signs, but that’s hardly enough to be taken seriously. At the same time, Democratic incumbent Shelley Berkley is strong. I saw a billboard for her last week that simply said something like, “Honesty. Integrity. Hard Work.” Know what? I can’t deny that. She’s clean of scandals and has a good reputation.
Basically, this race is pointless. She’ll win by about a zillion percent.
Still, Berkley voted for the stimulus and ObamaCare. So…
Vote for: Kenneth Wegner
Incidentally, even though it’s not in my district, I hope people for Joe Heck instead of Dina Titus for the other Congressional seat up for grabs this year. Titus is just as liberal as Berkley, and has run a foul, dishonest campaign against Heck. Dr. Heck, on the other hand, is a consistently conservative leader with the dedication we need to help our state.
GOVERNOR
Meanwhile, Brian Sandoval actually is ahead of Rory Reid by about a zillion points, so this one’s pointless, too!
By the way, if all of the conservatives who oppose illegal immigration are doing it because we hate Hispanics so much, why are we giving one a landslide victory in the election for our governor? Hmmm, maybe the left’s convenient assumptions about us aren’t accurate after all…
Vote for: Brian Sandoval
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Krolicki is an experienced professional, and the opponents aren’t even in his same league.
Vote for: Brian Krolicki
SECRETARY OF STATE
Republican challenger Rob Lauer is clearly not a serious contender, while incumbent Ross Miller has a solid record and reputation. (Lauer even has some highly questionable issues he hasn’t explained.)
Vote for: Ross Miller
STATE TREASURER
Incumbent Kate Marshall has done a commendable job, by all accounts, and seems to be getting endorsements based on that. Fine, but when an even better candidate comes along, that person deserves the nod. Marshall is good, but Steven Martin is better.
Vote for: Steven Martin
STATE CONTROLLER
Kim Wallin is universally respected for good work, it seems, while Barry Herr is only making a token attempt to prove himself. No contest here.
Vote for: Kim Wallin
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Current AG Catherine Cortez Masto has started running ads about Travis Barrick’s arrest twenty years ago for “harassing women,” which was actually a peaceful protest outside an abortion clinic. Gee, why doesn’t her ad mention that?
Between this and her political persecution of rival Brian Krolicki and her utter refusal to abide the will of the people and join the lawsuits against the administration over ObamaCare (which is now being handled by private attorneys), Cortez Masto has to go.
As an aside, I’m generally ignoring third party candidates here because they have no chance of winning. That being said, I really like Joel Hansen, who has been a mainstay of Nevada’s minority of Constitutional conservatives for a long time. I wish he’d register as a Republican so he’d have a real chance of getting somewhere. Joel, if it’s not too good for Ron Paul, it’s not too good for you!
Vote for: Travis Barrick
STATE ASSEMBLY, DISTRICT 17
Kenneth King seems very good, and I’d love to see super liberal Kelvin Atkinson go, but Atkinson is a popular rising star with a stranglehold on our little area. Goliath seems likely to win this time. Still…
Vote for: Kenneth King
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
I don’t think anyone can mount a reasonable argument that David Roger hasn’t done an excellent job. It doesn’t seem that anyone has even tried.
Vote for: David Roger
COUNTY ASSESSOR
Republican Gerrit Hale seems decent, but that’s hardly a ringing endorsement. Compared to the universally admired work of Michele Shafe, there’s no reasonable case to be made for replacing her. Even the uber-conservative Nevada Concerned Citizens recommended her!
Vote for: Michele Shafe
COUNTY CLERK
Ironically, Scott Austin loses out here for the same reason he barely got a nod from me in the primary: one candidate is running a serious campaign, the other is not. In the primary, Austin was slightly more professional, but now, incumbent Diana Alba shines with competence, something Scott Austin can’t even demonstrate. How sad to not meet a basic criteria. Apparently, Mr. Austin can hardly be bothered to campaign at all. OK, then. We can’t be bothered to vote for you.
Vote for: Diana Alba
COUNTY RECORDER
Everybody seems to like Jim Edwards, but everybody seems to like Debbie Conway more. He’s run and lost this race before, and his lack of a web site doesn’t exactly sway me.
Vote for: Debbie Conway
COUNTY TREASURER
Check out Javornicky’s outrageously stupid statements in the Review-Journal. Holy cow.
Vote for: Laura Fitzpatrick
A rant is called for at this point. All candidates and voters take notice. First, if you’re not going to run a real campaign, with interviews, an online presence, public appearances, and at least some attempt to reach voters, stop wasting our time. Trying to track you down just irritates me. Also, why can’t the Republicans run more decent candidates? Most of the guys on their ballot are amateurs, losers, or both. At least I get to demonstrate bipartisanship by endorsing Democrats. A bunch of them. *sigh*
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR
In a funny twist, the conservative Review-Journal is endorsing the Democrat, and the liberal Sun is endorsing the Republican. This is another case of a good incumbent being eclipsed by an even better challenger: John Cahill is good–very good, even–but Jack Clark really deserves this seat.
Vote for: Jack Clark
NORTH LAS VEGAS CONSTABLE
Herb Brown is a dedicated, effective veteran of this work. Jeffrey Eggeman, who’s barely lifted a finger to campaign, is almost invisible. One of the few things I found for him online was a quote from last year’s city council race, where he said, “The city of North Las Vegas should try and take as much advantage of the economic stimulus package passed by Congress.” Really? This guy’s supposed to be a Republican?
Vote for: Herb Brown
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 26
As I said during the primary, Gloria Sturman’s web site makes it clear that she is a liberal activist judge, and Bruce Gale is a competent professional with integrity.
Vote for: Bruce Gale
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 27
Blaine Beckstead is yet another candidate who can’t seem to be bothered to mount a serious campaign.
Vote for: Nancy Allf
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 28
Jack Howard is impressive. I usually try to avoid slip-and-fall ambulance chasers like Israel being promoted to the bench, anyway.
Vote for: Jack Howard
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 29
Pollock is unsuccessful where he is now, and unqualified for this seat.
Vote for: Susan Scann
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 30
I had a lot to say about this in the primary, so see that post. Michael Davidson seems very good, and I heard a rumor that Wiese endorsed Harry Reid. I hope that isn’t true. Still, I’m inclined to give Wiese this chance.
Vote for: Jerry Wiese
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 31
Joanna Kishner doesn’t come across nearly as professional or experienced as the much-respected Phil Dabney.
Vote for: Phil Dabney
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 32
Same reasoning as the previous endorsement.
Vote for: Rob Bare
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, FAMILY DIVISION, DEPT. C
A small but vocal minority seems to oppose Jones, but his ratings among peers, public, and media are solid.
Vote for: Steve Jones
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, FAMILY DIVISION, DEPT. F
So many of the races on this ballot are between experienced veterans and upstart yahoos–it’s good to have a few like these where the choice is between good and better. In this case, Eccles is good, but Gonzalez is clearly better.
Vote for: Bill Gonzalez
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, FAMILY DIVISION, DEPT. S
No contest here. I was very impressed with Ochoa in the primary, and now he’s by far the stronger of the two candidates left.
Vote for: Vincent Ochoa
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, FAMILY DIVISION, DEPT. T
Gayle Nathan is a solid, dependable choice here, and, as I said before, I prefer to avoid the slip-and-fall ambulance chasers.
Vote for: Gayle Nathan
REGENT, STATE UNIVERSITY, DISTRICT 12
Andrea Anderson seems to have potential here, but unfortunately for her, she’s up against extremely impressive powerhouse Mark Newburn.
Vote for: Mark Newburn
SHERIFF
While too many around here are criticizing Sheriff Doug Gillespie over various controversial matters, I don’t think any reasonable person can deny that he’s handled the public needs of the police force with dignity and integrity, and he certainly demonstrates concrete positive results for us.
Vote for: Doug Gillespie
I am glad you studied my bio. But don’t believe the ‘Sun’. When you said I wasn’t lifting a finger to campaign. That was a quote from the reporter from the ‘Sun’ last year when I ran for city council. I got killed in that race. It was the first time I ever ran for something. I learned a lot from that experience. Now for NLV Constable, I have 350 campaign signs located all around NLV. I also have a website jeffeggeman.com detailing my background and what I want to do. I went to three, meet the candidate, gatherings. Hardly any one from the public showed up it was all candidates. I am on twitter and facebook also. You can call me 768-4396 and I can give you more details about me. Good luck to you, Jeffrey A. Eggeman
Call him. Call him!
Mr. Eggeman, thank you for commenting. It says a lot about you that you would do that. You seem like a serious, concerned, competent person, and I wish you well in all you do. I hope you keep getting involved in civic work, because we need good people to fight for what’s right.
That being said, the best thing I can do to respect you is to be honest, and here it is: none of the things you wrote matter. You can go to events, put up signs, and have a web site, but if concerned, active voters can’t find information on you when they look for it, much less when the majority of them are only paying attention to whatever happens to reach out and grab their attention, then you have failed. It’s your responsibility to make your message heard, not to blame the voters for not finding you. A good singer doesn’t blame a bad show on the band, a good coach doesn’t blame a bad game on the players, and a good public leader doesn’t blame voter ignorance about him on the electorate.
Your web site, for example, is a pleasant introduction to you, but it hardly explains what you’d do in office, much less why you’d be superior to your opponent, or why he should be replaced. I’m not saying you need negative campaigning, but if you’re telling us we need to change the status quo, the burden of proof is on you. That’s just Debating 101.
How exactly do you reach the voters and inspire them, especially for a fairly obscure local office? I truly do not know. I’ve always been fascinated by how such races are decided, and my lack of understanding about the tactics to win one is a major reason why I’ve never entered the fray myself.
Sorry if this sounded harsh, but it’s the truth, and I meant what I said about respecting you–when you have an important message and a plan for necessary change, plus the strategy to make a victory happen, let me know. I’ll be in your corner.
Thank you for your advisement. I am still learning and gaining much experience, especially in campaigning. Your words will help me next time in refining my message to the electorate. Sincerely, Jeffrey A. Eggeman.
Doug Gillespie does not respect the Unabridged Second Amendment…
Further, supports a biased coroners’ inquest system that has failed to indict/find any wrong doing in a single police officer in a officer involved shooting in over 40 years…
Too many innocent people have been shot on Sherriff Doug Gillespie’s watch…
Erik Scott for one…
Has pending criminal charges being filed against him by Detective Gordon Martines, Family of Erik Scott et.al.
FIRE DOUG GILLESPIE…
Just stumbled onto your blog while researching the Clark County candidates. Great stuff! Very helpful. Best of luck to you.