Recent appointees to Clark County District Court win in election

Four recently appointed incumbents in Clark County District Court retained their seats Tuesday.

A field of nine candidates, including incumbent Kerry Louise Earley, entered the Department 4 race.

Earley, 61, finished with the win .

Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Earley, a civil lawyer for more than 30 years, to the seat in July after Kathy Hardcastle retired midterm.

The race for Department 5 pitted incumbent Carolyn Ellsworth, 57, against attorney Phung Jefferson, whose age was not available. Ellsworth soundly defeated Jefferson.

"I'm just very grateful to everybody who supported me," said Ellsworth, who was watching election returns at home with her family. "I worked hard to campaign, and I'm working even harder as a judge, and I'll continue to do so."

Sandoval appointed Ellsworth in September 2011 to replace Jackie Glass, who resigned to take a position in television. Before her appointment, Ellsworth worked in the securities division of the secretary of state's office.

Jefferson is married to Morse Arberry Jr., a former state assemblyman who served in the Legislature for 25 years before he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to report $120,000 in campaign contributions that he had diverted to a personal checking account.

Ellsworth investigated Arberry while working for the secretary of state's office, and she called Jefferson's decision to run against her "highly coincidental."

Jefferson has said publicly that she was unaware of Ellsworth's role and that it had nothing to do with her decision to enter the judicial race.

Sandoval appointed Adriana Escobar, 53, in June to replace retired District Judge Donald Mosley in Department 14. She was challenged by Michael Davidson, 58, a private attorney and former prosecutor who has practiced law for 33 years.

Escobar eked out a narrow victory over Davidson.

Escobar has worked as a San Diego city prosecutor, a Nevada chief deputy attorney general and a private attorney during her 21-year career.

Sandoval appointed Jerry Tao, 44, in January 2011 to replace David Wall, who resigned midterm from the Department 20 seat.

Tao was challenged by defense lawyer Chris Rasmussen, 41, who has practiced law for 13 years.

Tao fended off Rasmussen with a narrow win .

After receiving his law degree 20 years ago, Tao worked for a private firm in Los Angeles. He then took a job as a legislative assistant for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., before becoming the senator's chief speech writer.

Eventually, Tao wanted to get back to practicing law and moved to Las Vegas. After working as a Clark County prosecutor and a deputy public defender, Tao sought the judgeship.

The winners of all four District Court races must run again in 2014 for a regular six-year term. Judicial races are nonpartisan.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0264.