Two candidates advance to vie for embattled Judge Del Vecchio’s seat

Allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct against Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio might have been the nail in the coffin of his re-election bid.

The embattled Department K judge didn't earn enough votes Tuesday to advance to the fall general election.

Instead, Cynthia Giuliani and Vincent Ochoa will compete for the seat in November.

Giuliani hopes voters focused more on her merits than on the scandal surrounding Del Vecchio.

"I think people are realizing I have good values and will bring integrity to the bench," said the 41-year-old lawyer, who focuses on family law.

Giuliani was neck and neck with Ochoa, earning 31 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of Tuesday's votes.

Ochoa, a Notre Dame law school graduate who has been practicing in Nevada for nearly 30 years, said hard work and experience, primarily in Family Court, earned him votes.

He was surprised how many people voted for Del Vecchio given the scandal surrounding the judge. Del Vecchio earned 23 percent of the vote.

"I don't know how many (voters) actually are aware of what he's accused of," Ochoa said.

Del Vecchio has been accused of sexually harassing staff and having sex with his ex-wife's 14-year-old daughter.

The judge also is accused of taking nude photos of the girl, directing a bailiff with a part-time job with a commercial airline to get tickets for him and using racial slurs.

He declined to comment for this story.

The special prosecutor for the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline filed a 38-count complaint against Del Vecchio in February accusing him of, among other things, coercing his judicial assistant to have sex with him. The complaint says Del Vecchio threatened to fire the assistant, Rebecca Murray, if she stopped having sex with him.

A disciplinary hearing for Del Vecchio is tentatively scheduled for December.

In other Family Court races:

• Incumbent Lisa Kent, who garnered 35 percent of Tuesday's votes, will face Kenneth Pollock, who got 24 percent, in the general election race for Family Court Department J.

• Lawyers Gayle Beck Nathan and Mathew Harter will compete for the new Family Court Department N seat.

• Ron Israel, who has been practicing law in Nevada for 25 years, and Family Court hearing master Frank Sullivan will advance in the Family Court Department O race.

• Bryce C. Duckworth, who focuses on family law and is chairman of the state bar's Family Law Executive Council, will face Carl Piazza, who has been practicing law for nearly 30 years, for the new Family Court Department Q seat.

• Perennial candidate Bill Henderson will advance to the general contest for the Family Court Department R judgeship, having won 36 percent of the vote. Joining him will be Chuck Hoskin, who defeated Fernando Guzman by the slimmest of margins.

• Incumbent candidates for Family Court departments H and M each ran unopposed and needed just one vote each to be elected outright. They will not appear on the general election ballot. Art Richie won Department H, and William Potter won Department M.