Hardy misquote does some damage

Cresent Hardy, the Republican candidate for the 4th Congressional District, got tarnished temporarily by a misquote from a Mesquite newspaper.

Hardy, a District 19 assemblyman in the Nevada Legislature, is running against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford in the November election.

The Mesquite Desert Valley Times acknowledged in a Thursday story that its paraphrasing “misconstrued” a Hardy quote and “inaccurately portrayed the candidate’s position.”

Hardy’s quote goes back to a Sept. 18 campaign meet-and-greet and fundraiser, when he said women, minorities and young voters are the reason President Barack Obama was elected.

Somewhere along the line, that turned into an inaccurate paraphrase attributed to Hardy. In the original story, Hardy’s statement is paraphrased as saying women, minorities and young voters are “the reason the country is in trouble.”

When the newspaper’s story first ran, it was headlined “Cresent Hardy Targets Minorities.”

The incorrect information caught on in media circles, making the long-shot candidate’s aim for a seat in Congress even more challenging.

The bright spot: After meeting with Hardy, the Desert Valley Times fixed the online story’s quote and changed the headline.

The new headline: “Hardy works to earn women, minority and young voters.”

The Mesquite newspaper also ran a follow-up online story clearing up the matter Thursday.

The point Hardy was trying to make, according to the article, was that voters are disillusioned by Obama. In his view, he told the Mesquite newspaper, it’s an opportunity.

“They’re disgruntled with their selection,” Hardy said, according to the newspaper. “It’s a good opportunity for us to target minorities, women and young adults to come our way and vote for us. I think we’ve done a good job so far.”

— Ben Botkin

MARSHALL SAVE GOES POLITICAL

Some Nevada Republicans are taking issue with state Treasurer Kate Marshall’s announcement Sept. 17 that her office has recovered nearly all of a $50 million state investment put at risk by the 2008 bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers firm.

Marshall, a Democrat running for secretary of state against Republican state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, said that while other states lost substantial sums that were invested with the company, Nevada will get its $50 million investment returned in full.

Marshall said her office recovered 46.5 cents on the dollar from a bankruptcy settlement and a later sale of the bonds, bringing in nearly $24 million of the total.

But where Republicans take issue is how the remainder of the money was generated.

Marshall’s office used a fraction of the return on the state’s general portfolio, less than 1 percent, toward the remaining shortfall. That amortization process has produced $26 million and will result in the full recovery of the $50 million by the end of the year, Marshall said.

But Nick Phillips, political director of the Clark County Republican Party, said Nevada taxpayers picked up more than half the tab for the $50 million loss “when Marshall was caught napping during Lehman Brothers’ 2008 bankruptcy.”

“Marshall simply diverted $27.2 million in interest payments due Nevada taxpayers to a special account that hides the state’s loss on the Lehman bonds,” he said.

In a release criticizing Marshall, the county party cites an unnamed financial expert “close to” the situation who said she simply diverted interest earnings on the general portfolio to offset the Lehman loss.

Phillips said: “A loss — and a big one at that — is still a loss. Our state treasurer should tell the truth, not try to hide her mistake with cute accounting.”

Jake Breymaier, a spokesman for the Marshall campaign, called the attack off base, noting that Republicans and Democrats alike publicly reviewed and agreed with the plan to recover the $50 million in the Wall Street collapse.

The GOP attack is aimed at distracting voters from Cegavske’s lack of accomplishments during her time in the Legislature, he said.

“Now, six years after the Lehman Brothers collapse and during an election year, the Republican Party goes into attack mode because that recovery plan worked,” Breymaier said. “The Republican Party should be ashamed.

“Instead of applauding Kate Marshall for recovering $50 million as many Republicans and Democrats have, they want to distract from their candidate who has failed Nevadans time and again,” he said.

— Sean Whaley

ELVIS WANTS YOUR VOTES

If Clark County officials are correct, a cardboard cutout of an Elvis Presley impersonator will help boost voter turnout.

County leaders Tuesday, also National Voter Registration Day, rolled out a campaign to boost low turnout dubbed: “Don’t lose your voice. Vote.”

The campaign includes cardboard cutouts of local celebrities holding signs.

Residents can take pictures and post them on social media with the hashtag #DontLoseYourVoice and #Vote.

The lineup, which includes public service announcements on television, offers BMX bike racer and jumper Ricardo Laguna, Richard Harrison of “Pawn Stars” and “Legends in Concert” entertainers appearing as Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Elvis Presley.

It’s also part of a drive to increase the number of younger people voting.

The cutouts also will be at polling places during early voting Oct. 18-31.

The nearly 100 cardboard cutouts cost the county taxpayers $598.

There are more than 810,000 active registered voters in Clark County, but officials estimate that more than 500,000 people are eligible to vote but unregistered. About 122,000 voters, or 15.8 percent of active registered voters, cast ballots in the June primary.

The deadline to register to vote in the general election is Oct. 14. For more information, visit www.ClarkCountyNV.gov/Vote. You also can call the Election Department at 702-455-VOTE (8683).

Or, as Elvis might have said, if you don’t cast a ballot, you “ain’t nothing but a hound dog who cries all the time.”

— Ben Botkin

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1. Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.