Absent Tarkanian takes heat at GOP debate in Pahrump

A congressional debate in Pahrump ended on an ugly note Wednesday night with Danny Tarkanian's wife calling his opponents "classless" for criticizing him for skipping the event to be in Washington, D.C.

Kiran Hill, a favorite GOP contender in libertarian Nye County, asked the audience to vote for him or any of the other five Republicans who showed up to debate and to punish Tarkanian by withholding support.

"Tarkanian did not show up tonight," Hill said, adding for good measure that his missing opponent had taken campaign contributions from Democrats as well. "I don't think he's the right man for the job."

Hill's slam won heavy applause from the Pahrump crowd of more than 100 inside the convention center at the Nevada Treasure RV Resort in the city 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

State Sen. Barbara Cegavske also took a shot at the missing-in-action Tarkanian, suggesting he's running on his name alone. He's the son of famed University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian.

"I do think it takes more than a famous name to change Washington," said Cegavske, who has one of the most consistent anti-tax records in the Legislature. "It takes a proven conservative."

Amy Tarkanian was allowed to speak because her husband was in Washington meeting with fundraisers and addressing a Latino group.

She said debate organizers had put the event together on short notice and Tarkanian's schedule couldn't be changed at the last minute.

"We all know he has never backed down from a good debate," she said. "So please don't take it the wrong way."

Then she called out his critics, accusing them of delivering a low blow.

"It was disrespectful and classless, so thank you," she said.

Danny Tarkanian is the GOP favorite in the primary with nine Republicans in the 4th Congressional District race. The winner will face Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford in the fall.

Wednesday night's debate was the fourth and last face-off before early voting begins Saturday. It continues every day for two weeks through June 8 ahead of the June 12 primary.

So the Pahrump debate was the last chance for Tarkanian's opponents to get their public licks in, after the other debates, which didn't see the candidates criticize one another much.

Before the Pahrump debate, Hill said he believed Tarkanian skipped the event because he didn't want to face tough questions in front of a crowd that favors Hill, who served as a Marine and who has won over local supporters of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul.

A straw poll taken at the debate bore that out. Hill came out on top with 61 percent of the 85 ballots cast. Tarkanian was second with 15 percent, followed by Cegavske at 12 percent, Ken Wegner at 7 percent, and Dan Schwartz and Sid Zeller at about 2 percent each.

Even if the little-known Hill did manage to win in Nye County - where Paul also beat presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the Feb. 4 Republican caucuses - he would probably finish far behind Tarkanian in the rest of the sprawling district, which includes five rural counties, part of Lyon County and northern Clark County.

Most of the debate in front of the conservative and libertarian crowd focused on questions about whether the candidates would adhere to the Constitution and cut the federal budget and not raise taxes. At one point, a questioner from the audience asked whether President Barack Obama had committed an impeachable offense.

Hill jumped at the chance to respond.

"I do think he has committed an impeachable offense, and that is going to war without authorization of Congress," Hill said.

Several presidents have done the same thing in the past.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal .com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.