Judicial debate: Clark County Family Court, Dept. I: Candidates talk endorsements
A pair of candidates vying for a seat on the Clark County Family Court bench debated the effects of endorsements from lawyers who may practice before them.
Candidate Yvette Chevalier Lopez called a list of attorneys named on the website of one of her opponents, Soonhee “Sunny” Bailey, “somewhat troubling.”
Chevalier Lopez suggested that Bailey had been seeking endorsements long before she decided to run for judicial office.
“I’m not impressed by endorsements that come upon someone because they hire a high-powered consultant to help them with their campaign,” Chevalier Lopez said. “I’m looking one voter at a time, and that’s what I believe will get me to the end of this race. I don’t want to have any lawyers in my pocket or befriend any lawyers because I’m running for Family Court.”
Bailey said the endorsements spoke to her experience in the legal community.
“My campaign reflects what kind of judge I’m going to be,” Bailey said. “I have the support of lawyers and the community, including many endorsements from unions, police, fire and labor. That’s because they vetted, and they actually held endorsement interviews, and they determined who they wanted to endorse.”
Bailey and Chevalier Lopez are two of three candidates seeking to fill the seat in Family Court Department I, which is being vacated by Cheryl Moss, who is not seeking re-election. A third candidate for the position, Michelle Tobler, did not participate in the debate.
If a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the June vote, the candidate will win the election. In primary races where no candidate captures a majority of votes cast, the top two finishers advance to November’s general election.
Bailey, a hearing master in Family Court, has worked as a public defender and labor commissioner. In 2018, she helped create the Detention Alternative for Autistic Youth Court, a diversion program aimed to address the issues of young people with autism.
Chevalier Lopez, a family law attorney, said she has lived in Las Vegas for nearly 40 years. She has worked as a schoolteacher and a high school counselor. In her practice, she said, she works mostly with “Latino families that don’t have access to justice.”
The debate marked the sixth of 23 scheduled events for more than 70 candidates in judicial primary races for the Supreme Court, District Court and Family Court.
Judicial debates have been rescheduled as videoconferences for the remainder of April amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The debate moderator asked the candidates for Department I how they would work toward more amicable outcomes in an often-contentious setting.
“Judges who have compassion, who have understanding of human dynamics and family dynamics and who have lots of experience with children from all different areas and walks of life are able to have some empathy that a lot of judges don’t have for whatever reasons,” Chevalier Lopez said. “I think I would bring excellent empathy. I definitely feel that I’m the kind of judge who will hear both sides.”
Bailey touted her five years of experience in Family Court.
“We are always dealing with people on their worst day. Family Court is people on their worst day,” she said. “What you do is you allow everyone to have their case heard, but you set the guidelines, and you make sure you can utilize everything possible in order to get to a swift and quick resolution to these issues.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
