Judicial contest still tight

CARSON CITY -- Las Vegas attorney Kris Pickering has pulled slightly ahead of her judicial rival in one Supreme Court race, while incumbent Chief Justice Mark Gibbons has opened up a wide lead over his opponent in the other high court contest in the November election, a Review-Journal poll shows.

In the Seat B contest, Pickering has the support of 33 percent of likely voters, while Washoe County Family Court Judge Deborah Schumacher has 30 percent. But a healthy 26 percent remain undecided, and 11 percent want neither candidate.

Gibbons, running for a second term on the court, has pulled far ahead of Las Vegas attorney Thomas Christensen and now leads 45 percent to 16 percent with 23 percent undecided. Sixteen percent support neither candidate.

The statewide poll of 625 registered and likely voters conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C., has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The poll results in the Pickering-Schumacher matchup are dramatically different from a similar Review-Journal poll conducted a few weeks ago. In that poll, Schumacher led Pickering 22 percent to 13 percent with 46 percent undecided.

The Gibbons-Christensen poll results are different too as voters have made up their minds about who to vote for in Seat D. Gibbons in the earlier poll was leading Christensen 24 percent to 15 percent with 44 percent undecided.

"Gibbons seems to be putting this one away," said Brad Coker, managing partner of the polling firm. "He was ahead before, but he has increased his margin."

But in the other matchup for the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Bill Maupin, "Pickering has made it a horse race," he said. "Schumacher was up by nine points, and now Pickering is up by three points."

The change has come after the disclosure that Pickering had contacted the FBI earlier this year and alleged that her former campaign manager Gary Gray said she would be given campaign contributions for agreeing to recuse herself from cases involving Las Vegas attorney Laura Fitzsimmons. Both Gray and Fitzsimmons have denied the allegations.

Pickering is running television ads touting her support from the law enforcement community and highlighting the fact that she "stood up" to and "blew the whistle" on judicial corruption.

Pickering could not say whether the incident is a factor for voters.

"I am heartened by the numbers, but I'm still working hard and every vote counts,' she said. "It's a close race, and I think the poll reflects that."

Ronni Council, campaign manager for Schumacher, said the numbers are positive for the judge, given the amount of television time bought by Pickering.

"We went on TV quite late compared to Ms. Pickering," Council said. "She has been on since prior to the primaries. The fact that the numbers are within the margin of error are good for us."

Schumacher is gearing up, both on television and in personal campaigning, she said.

Gibbons, who is not related to Gov. Jim Gibbons, called the poll results very encouraging.

"I'm just ecstatic about those results," he said. "I've jumped over 20 points in just a couple of weeks. It shows we're getting our message out and that my record as a justice is resonating with voters."

Christensen said the results reflect that he has not spent any money on his campaign. Voters have responded favorably to his campaign, but it has been quite limited, he said.

Christensen said that if he had money to spend on the race, it would be competitive because voters are not entirely happy with the performance of Gibbons or the court as a whole.

Contact reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.