DISTRICT COURT DEPARTMENT 23

Voters must choose between a Family Court judge and a longtime attorney in the race to replace suspended District Judge Elizabeth Halverson, who was defeated in the primary election after facing misconduct allegations.

Miley, 37, was elected to a six-year term on the Family Court bench in 2004, but she said many people urged her to seek a District Court seat this year. She agreed after determining the timing was right.

"I love Family Court," she said. "I just wanted to diversify a bit."

She said diverse experience would help her if she decides to run for higher office, such as a seat on the Nevada Supreme Court, in the future.

Landess, 62, said voters expected Miley to serve her full term in Family Court, "and now she wants to use that platform to catapult herself into even higher office."

"If you make a promise or a commitment to the voters, then keep the promise and don't play musical chairs," he said.

Landess said he wants to become a district judge "and nothing else."

"I want to serve in that capacity for as long as my health would permit," he added.

The lawyer said he chose to make his first bid for public office after his 2007 victory in a court battle with two former business partners. He said the multimillion-dollar windfall gave him the financial security to take a job as a public servant.

In 1994, Landess lost more than $2 million while playing blackjack. Several casinos sued him for unpaid markers, and he later declared bankruptcy. Landess said he no longer gambles.

This year, Landess has been defending a lawsuit in which the Securities and Exchange Commission accuses him of helping set up an improper stock scheme that netted him and six others nearly $4 million. Landess described himself as a "peripheral defendant" in the civil case and denied any wrongdoing.

Miley graduated in 1995 from the California Western School of Law in San Diego and has been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 1996. She worked in private practice, primarily handling civil litigation, before becoming a judge.

She and her former law partners faced a malpractice lawsuit just days after she took the bench. The case was settled about a year after it was filed.

Landess graduated in 1977 from Loyola Law School Los Angeles and has been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 1981.

He worked as a deputy district attorney in Orange County, Calif., from 1978 to 1980 and as corporate counsel for a nonprofit organization in Missouri from 1982 to 1984. Since then he has worked in private practice in Las Vegas, where he focuses on business law and complex civil litigation.

Landess said voters should choose him because of the breadth and depth of his experience as a trial lawyer, "not to mention the temperament that comes with being 62 years old."

"I started practicing law when my opponent was in grade school," he said.

Miley said voters should choose her because she has experience on both sides of the courtroom: as a litigator and as a judge.

In this year's Judicial Performance Evaluation survey, 55 percent of the responding attorneys said Miley should be retained.

Miley received nearly 60 percent of the vote in the primary election for the Department 23 seat, and Landess received 30 percent.

Records show that Miley had collected about $144,000 in campaign contributions for the race as of early August, when the most recent reports were due. Landess had raised about $100,000, which included a $78,000 loan he made to his campaign.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.