These Nevada candidates have had brushes with the law
A man running for Nevada governor was locked up in a Pahrump prison for nearly two years. Another gubernatorial candidate was arrested as a teenager for DUI and assaulting a police officer. And an attorney general candidate was arrested four times for public intoxication and theft.
These are some of the candidates at the top of the Nevada ballot for Tuesday’s election.
“We do seem to have more than our share of people with criminal records running for office,” said Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Nearly a dozen Nevada candidates have had brushes with the law, some infractions more serious than others.
“We have the motto of ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,’ ” Herzik said. “We have a pimp who wins a primary and will win the election, too, even though he’s dead. You have people in rural areas that openly flout the law and are praised by other politicians as being a patriot. In Nevada, having a criminal record is just sort of winked at.”
Ryan Bundy, the independent gubernatorial candidate, spent 22 months in federal custody after an armed standoff with federal agents in 2014 that stopped a federal cattle roundup. A federal judge in January dismissed charges against Bundy and his father, Cliven Bundy, declaring prosecutorial misconduct.
He announced his bid for governor two months later.
Right below Bundy’s name on the ballot is Republican Adam Laxalt.
Laxalt was arrested in 1996 on suspicion of assaulting a police officers and for drunken driving in Virginia in 1997. Laxalt, who’s been open about his struggles with alcohol, entered rehab as a teenager.
“When I was 17, I was standing by the door at a high school party when an officer suddenly entered, and I demanded to see a warrant,“ Laxalt said. “The whole thing was quickly dropped because there was never any actual assault or violence. I was a teenager mouthing off. Regardless, I regret that. As a law enforcement officer today, I realize how hard that job is, and if I could knock some sense into that drunk teenager, I would — for a lot of reasons.”
Before moving to Nevada in 2011, Laxalt also racked up numerous traffic tickets, including a $140 speeding citation from 2003 that Laxalt finally paid two months ago.
Laxalt, the state’s attorney general, isn’t the only candidate whose behavior decades ago has come back to haunt him.
State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford faced scrutiny this year when it came to light that he had been arrested four times for public intoxication, stealing tires and failing to appear in court. Ford also failed to pay $185,000 in taxes.
“I obviously made some bad decisions, but college kids make bad decisions,” Ford said in an interview this year. “I’ve learned from these. I’ve grown from these. It’s part of what makes me so passionate for what I fight for. I don’t want the first 20 years of my life to be the judge of what’s happened the last 25 years of my life.”
A handful of Nevada Assembly candidates have also run into trouble:
— The trial of Michael McDonald, the Republican candidate in Assembly District 20, begins Monday. He is accused of forging evidence in a family court case and lying about his income.
— Independent Assembly District 35 candidate Daniel Hofstein was arrested in 2005 on felony drug charges.
— Republican Assembly District 5 candidate Jason Burke was sued by his opponent and nearly thrown off the ballot for filing late campaign finance reports.
— Democratic Assemblyman Ozzie Fumo reportedly violated Nevada election law by exceeding campaign contribution limits.
— Although he wasn’t arrested, Republican Assembly District 41 candidate Paris Wade was linked to the Macedonian fake news boom.
In the race for Las Vegas justice of the peace, former Regent James Dean Leavitt was indicted in 1998 for felony reckless driving after he struck a roadside flagger. He was convicted of a misdemeanor and had his driver’s license suspended.
North Las Vegas constable candidate Jimmy Vega was the subject of two police raids related to claims that he doesn’t live in the city.
Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Boulder City late last year.
Clark County School Board Trustee Kevin Child, who is seeking re-election, has been accused of harassment and has twice been barred from visiting school campuses.
Herzik, the political scientist, said some of these offenses would have sunk political careers 20 years ago. Not anymore, though opposing campaigns have had a field day rehashing the charges in attack ads.
“Republicans make Aaron Ford sound like a mafia kingpin,” said Herzik, a registered Republican. “They’ve been bashing Ford for things he did in his 20s, and they turn a blind eye for what Adam Laxalt did.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information about candidates Jimmy Vega and Lynn Goya.
Contact Ramona Giwargis at rgiwargis@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4538. Follow @RamonaGiwargis on Twitter.
