Campaign manager Hackeman no longer working for Flores
Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, a Las Vegas Democrat running for lieutenant governor, has parted ways with her campaign manager, Pete Hackeman.
Flores is still getting top-tier advice, however, from Brandon Hall, who managed the successful re-election campaign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 2010. And from national adviser Addisu Demissie, Hall said last week.
The race is one of the most competitive and closely watched on Nevada’s Nov. 4 ballot.
“Pete is a good guy and a hard worker, but he wasn’t the right fit for this campaign,” Hall said in an email. “Addisu Demissie and I continue to stay very involved in the day-to-day operation of the campaign. We’re full steam ahead.”
Demissie has worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and for President Barack Obama’s campaign team. He also helped Flores launch her bid for the state’s No. 2 job in March.
Flores is running against state Sen. Mark Hutchison, R-Las Vegas, who has been endorsed by GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Flores has been endorsed by Reid and U.S. Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford, both D-Nev.
Before joining Flores’ campaign, Hackeman was a “senior campaign specialist” who coordinated the Nevada Education Association’s 2012 presidential campaign program, according to his profile on LinkedIn.
— Laura Myers
BARBECUED FAVORS
The Democratic porkster came through for the Republican governor’s wife.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is proud of his ability to bring home the bacon, and his beneficiaries are glad he can.
He announced Tuesday he had nabbed $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to benefit The Children’s Cabinet in Reno.
The news release explained that “The Children’s Cabinet provides a wide range of crisis intervention services, including Safe Place, a service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for youth experiencing violence, abuse or exploitation. Programs also include runaway and homeless youth services, substance abuse and gang intervention programming, work experience training, and independent living for former foster care youth.
This is a deserving and well-regarded agency. Since it was founded in 1985, it has helped 11,000 families.
But it doesn’t hurt that Gov. Brian Sandoval’s wife, Kathleen, is director of operations there.
Really, it’s a twofer for the pork-loving senator. Do a good thing and please the wife of the man who just might run against you in 2016.
Could there be a “House of Cards” episode in there somewhere?
— Jane Ann Morrison
TO TELL THE TRUTH
Las Vegas Councilman Bob Coffin publicly chastised Wal-Mart Corp. for being thoughtless and doing nothing more for the family of Joseph Wilcox beyond sending flowers to the funeral of the man who tried to stop a shooting spree in a Las Vegas Wal-Mart store.
Wal-Mart Corp. spokeswoman Dianna Gee was shocked to hear of Coffin’s comments made Wednesday during a televised City Council meeting. Especially since she said the company had made memorial donations for Wilcox, as well as Las Vegas police officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo, who were murdered execution-style at a nearby pizza parlor before the killers went to the store.
Wilcox, a customer there June 8, tried to stop Jered Miller from harming anyone else when he was shot in the back of the head by Miller’s wife, Amanda.
During a minor agenda item in the televised meeting, Coffin and Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian both said they were disappointed that Wal-Mart didn’t do anything for the Wilcox family. “I just think they are thoughtless,” Coffin said.
When asked afterward, Coffin didn’t know whether Wal-Mart did anything for Beck and Soldo.
Gee said the donations on behalf of the three men were made without a public announcement because the company knows “that nothing will take away the families’ pain.”
She declined to divulge the amount of the donations, but confirmed that the donation to the Joseph R. Wilcox Memorial fund at a Wells Fargo Bank was deposited June 16. She said the company also contributed supplies and support to other fundraising efforts on behalf of the three men.
Coffin said part of the money donated to the Wilcox family’s memorial fund went to pay funeral expenses for Wilcox’s maternal grandmother, who died last week of a heart attack.
— Jane Ann Morrison
NONPARTISANS FORGE AHEAD
More than 15,000 Nevadans have registered to vote since the close of the primary election registration period May 20, the scretary of state’s office reported last week.
Nonpartisan voter registration numbers outpaced both major parties through June 30.
Of the 15,855 new voters, 4,315 are Democrats, 4,247 are Republicans and 6,005 are nonpartisans. The remainder are registered with Nevada’s various minor parties.
Of the 1,169,377 active registrants statewide, 40.6 percent, or 475,108, are Democrats; 35.2 percent, or 411,331, are Republicans; and 18 percent, or 210,493, are nonpartisan.
The deadlines to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election are Oct. 4 by mail and Oct. 14 online or in person.
— Sean Whaley
Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj. Contact Jane Ann Morrison at jmorrison@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0275. Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.
