Secretary of state’s office continues freeze of Clark County GOP paperwork

The Nevada secretary of state’s office says it is continuing a freeze on filings related to the Clark County Republican Party to allow more time for a court to settle a dispute between warring sects of the party.

Kim Perondi, an administrator for the secretary of state’s office, told former Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus in a Friday letter to provide confirmation of a legal appeal in the dispute by Oct. 28. Silberkraus contends he is the party’s rightfully elected political director.

The letter follows a monthslong power struggle between dueling factions of the Clark County Republican Party and puts a hold on the filing of paperwork that would change who is listed as an officer of the local party.

Jesse Law, who contends he is the county party’s rightfully elected chairman, said the letter isn’t going to stop him from building his organization.

“This has no bearing,” he said Friday.

The dispute between the factions stems from a July meeting that ended without the election of new leadership. Days later, a group called the meeting back to complete the process and elected Law as chairman.

Acting party leadership at the time considered the meeting fraudulent and filed a lawsuit against Law and others in August.

Ultimately, a judge threw out the lawsuit with prejudice, saying she did not have jurisdiction over the matter.

Law said the order tossing the case made him the chairman of the party.

He said the secretary of state’s office had told him that it would lift the holds on the paperwork and award him the legal entity.

Perondi told the Review-Journal on Friday that Law provided the court order and that her office was ready to close the case, but the opposing side contacted the secretary of state’s office and indicated the dispute over who is in charge was not resolved.

She agreed with that assessment in Friday’s letter.

“The district court dismissed the case without reaching the question of who is currently entitled to serve as the officers and directors of the Clark County Republican Central Committee,” Perondi wrote.

Both sides contend they represent the true Clark County Republican Party, and have held competing membership meetings.

Silberkraus has said his side is in charge because the party’s board of trustees did not recognize Law or his team as elected officers. He said his side plans to pursue additional legal action.

In a text message Friday, he said his side was confident it would win in court and that state Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Henderson, would be declared the rightful chair of the local party after the faction elected her last month.

Law maintains that he is the true chairman of the Clark County GOP because his team is recognized by the Nevada Republican Party. The state party sent a letter to the secretary of state’s office on Friday asking it to record Law and his team as officers.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.