State Senate candidate dies of heart attack

Voters can still choose David Lee Wallace Jr. for Nevada Senate, even though the Democratic candidate died of a heart attack less than a month before the June primary election.

Wallace died at a Las Vegas hospital Thursday afternoon, according to the Clark County Coroner's office. He was 47.

Larry Lomax, the county's registrar of voters, said that signs informing voters of Wallace's death will be hung at polling places for early voting, which runs May 26 to June 8. The election is June 12. If Wallace wins, a vacant seat is declared, and the county or state party appoints a replacement candidate, Lomax said.

But dead people running for office have a losing streak in Nevada.

Guy Rocha, former state archivist, said candidates have died before an election but have never prevailed when their names still appear on the ballot.

"If he were to win, that would be unprecedented," Rocha said.

In 1926, state treasurer candidate Clara Cunningham was killed in a car accident near Elko 16 days before the election. She still garnered more than 9,300 votes post-mortem, but it wasn't enough to defeat incumbent Ed Malley, who had more than 17,900 votes.

Rocha, the historian, pointed to another example, that of Democratic U.S. Sen. Key Pittman, who died on Nov. 10, 1940, five days after winning re-election. Rumors circulated that Pittman died before the election and that his body was kept in a bathtub filled with ice so that Democrats could keep his seat and appoint someone.

Rocha interviewed Pittman's physician, who said the senator died of a heart attack while "engaged in a pre-election drinking spree."

According to Rocha's research, "an embalmer further reported that Pittman's death certificate recorded no evidence of the tissue effects on Pittman's body that would have confirmed the ice story."

Wallace was one of three Democrats and a Republican vying for the Senate District 4 seat held by state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, who is running for Congress.

State Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson and Katherine Duncan are the other Democratic candidates. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Linda West Myers in the general election.

Wallace, who grew up in the Senate district that includes parts of West Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, was making his first run for public office. He said he chose to run because "we haven't had consistent representation in our area," and "the people need someone who doesn't believe in business as usual."

Nevada Youth Parole Bureau Chief Brett Allen said Wallace was a supervisor of parole officers and worked with his office since 2004.

He worked as a youth diversion specialist for the Metropolitan Police Department, a juvenile justice program director and juvenile probation supervisor. He volunteered as a coordinating director for the Southern Nevada Gang Task Force.

Wallace attended Alabama's Oakwood University. He was an Air Force veteran and ordained minister. He also hosted a gospel radio program using the name "Da Preacha Man."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.