Nevada Supreme Court justices, other unopposed candidates retake seats
CARSON CITY - There are two ways to win elections. Shake a lot of hands, visit homes, make speeches and phone calls, and spend money on a campaign.
Or, win the easy way - by not having an opponent. That is the way three state Supreme Court justices, nine Assembly members and as many as nine justice of the peace candidates in Clark County were re-elected Tuesday.
Justices Nancy Saitta, Michael Cherry and Michael Douglas earned free rides to new six-year terms when no one challenged them.
It marked the second consecutive general election in which none of the incumbent justices drew opposition.
Because judicial rules prohibit candidates from collecting campaign contributions when they have no opposition, most voters probably forgot that Douglas, Saitta and Cherry were running until they saw their ballots.
Studies show incumbent judges are tough to beat throughout the nation. Many states have changed to systems in which judges are appointed.
But voters in Nevada have rejected proposed constitutional amendments to create a system for the appointment of judges.
In Clark County, Democratic Assembly members Marilyn Kirkpatrick in District 1, Harvey Munford in District 6, Olivia Diaz in District 11 and Richard Carrillo in District 18 won seats without opposition, as did Republican John Hambrick in District 2.
Republican Assembly members Pat Hickey in District 25 in Reno, Ira Hansen in District 32 in Sparks, John Ellison in District 33 in Elko and Tom Grady in District 38 in Yerington also won re-election the easy way.
Also without opposition were Clark County School Board Trustee Linda Young, District C; Boulder City Justice of the Peace Victor Miller; Bunkerville Justice of the Peace Darryl Dodenbier; Goodsprings Justice of the Peace Dawn Haviland; Henderson Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr, Department 1; Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joseph Sciscento, Department 2; Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson, Department 10; Moapa Justice of the Peace Ruth Kolhoss; and North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell, Department 2.
Voter registration records give a sense of why opposing parties found it futile to put up opposing candidates in the nine Assembly districts.
District 6 has 16,848 registered Democrats and 1,995 Republicans. In most of the other uncontested districts, the incumbent had at least a 2-to-1 registration advantage.
Because of redistricting approved last year, many of the Assembly districts now are in areas heavily dominated by one party.
"We didn't try to field candidates for the sake of fielding candidates," said Hickey, who probably will be named Assembly Republican leader Friday in Carson City. The 2013 session starts in February.
Hickey said his victory, particularly without opposition, makes him realize even more that legislators "represent all the people, not just the partisans from their own party."
"I have a sense Nevadans want to see a post-partisan era in state politics," he added. "I hope to be a party to that as much as possible."
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
