Challenger in state Senate race more confident than ever

CARSON CITY -- Even before state Sen. Dennis Nolan called a woman May 19 to offer financial benefits if she "told the truth" about a rape case involving a friend, Senate District 9 challenger Elizabeth Halseth was confident she would beat him in Tuesday's primary.

"We are seeing the road that experience has gotten us," said Halseth about Nolan, a 16-year legislator. "It has gotten us in a fiscal crisis. We cannot afford four more years of Dennis Nolan."

Halseth, 27, has been calling herself the "real conservative" in a no-holds-barred Republican primary for the Senate seat in northwest Las Vegas.

Nolan fears their nasty primary might "split the party," and a Democrat could win in November if Republicans do not unite behind the primary winner.

"She isn't getting into office to do something, but to be somebody," he said. "I don't see her doing anything good."

Whichever Republican wins in the primary will face a Democratic challenger in November. That could be small businessman Benny Yerushalmi, veterinarian Steven Saxe or Sharona Dagani. Yerushalmi has raised $144,000 in contributions, more than the other two Democrats as well as Nolan's $58,000 and Halseth's $18,000.

When Nolan last won the seat in 2006, Republicans had a 5,232-registered voter advantage in the district. Now Democrats have a 3,848-voter advantage.

Halseth has been hammering Nolan, 49, for his support of $1 billion in tax increases in 2009 and his yes vote on the bill that allowed gay and straight couples to enter into domestic partnerships.

Nolan has countered by saying his vote for "temporary tax increases" was designed to keep intact schools and the state government infrastructure. The tax increases approved in 2009 expire on June 30, 2011, unless reauthorized by the Legislature.

Supporting domestic partnerships was a conservative vote to allow couples to make hospital and end-of-life decisions when necessary for each other, according to Nolan.

"Maybe that vote will hurt me with some voters," Nolan said. "But I think people have more things to worry about than what goes on in other people's bedrooms."

Nolan said Halseth is too inexperienced and too new to Nevada to take his seat. Halseth moved to Nevada in 2006, while Nolan has been a legislator since 1994 and served as Transportation Committee chairman for several sessions. He also is the Senate assistant minority leader.

But other than the tax and domestic partnership issues, the campaign has dissipated into personal attacks.

According to Nolan, Halseth "left behind a swamp of lawsuits," including one for bankruptcy, when she moved to Nevada from Oregon.

Nolan questioned how she can balance a state budget when she cannot pay her own bills.

Nolan released copies of Halseth's bankruptcy lawsuit and two harassment-related lawsuits she filed, one against a former high school teacher and the other against a past employer.

He said records show "she withheld from the bankruptcy court" information about the settlement she received in the high school case.

The documents show her old high school did request the reopening of the case because of its suspicions that Halseth did not disclose a previous settlement.

Halseth said that filtering through her old lawsuit records by Nolan shows "how desperate he has become" to avoid a primary defeat.

"There were unfortunate events in my life where I had to take legal action," Halseth said. "I don't regret it. He is twisting it around as something bad, and it is not bad."

It is true she filed for bankruptcy, she acknowledged, but the debts were over her husband's college loans.

She said she received no settlement in the high school case, and was not aware the school sought to reopen the case until being e-mailed copies of court records last week. Because she did not receive a judgment, there was nothing for the school to claim, Halseth added.

But the highlight of their campaign came last week when Halseth posted a recording of a message that Nolan left on the telephone of a Las Vegas woman, Jaime Lawes.

Lawes' father, Tim Andersen, has recorded radio ads for Halseth in which he accuses Nolan of defending "child rapists."

In the phone message, Nolan offered financial benefits if Lawes would tell the truth about a rape case involving his friend and her former husband, Gordon Lawes.

Gordon Lawes received a minimum 10-year sentence for raping Jaime Lawes' 16-year-old sister. Nolan testified as a character witness for him at his trial in 2008.

The senator maintains that no rape occurred because the sex was consensual. The victim's family strongly disputes that allegation, contending the girl was passed out and drunk and could not consent to anything.

Nolan said he lied in the phone message that Jaime Lawes would receive money if she told the truth. His motive was to meet with her while wearing a "wire" recording device so he could tape what she said about her father and the rape case.

The senator contended Andersen wields so much power over his two daughters that they have been afraid to say no rape occurred.

But Jaime Lawes told the Review-Journal that she told the truth about the rape. The family has threatened to sue Nolan for slander.

Halseth has not directly criticized Nolan for the call but asks voters to listen to it and make their own judgments.

Halseth acknowledged, however, that her campaign has gathered support since she posted Nolan's call on her website.

Nolan said he has an outstanding record of standing up for women's rights and backing anti-rape legislation.

Nolan said he has supported 72 bills to protect children from pedophiles in his career.

Lawes and Andersen said Nolan should resign over his call, which they called a bribe.

Review-Journal reporter Ben Spillman contributed to this report. Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.