Baggage? We don’t have no stinkin’ baggage

One coronation down, one to go. The second won’t be nearly as tidy as the first.

Catherine Cortez Masto was an obvious choice to take Harry Reid’s place on the 2016 ballot. No other Nevada Democrat has her statewide election wins (with no losses) and career experience. The fact that she was Reid’s first choice to replace him, after he announced last month that he wouldn’t seek re-election, certainly helped. The entire state and national party machinery has lined up behind Masto in her bid to become the first Nevada woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

Before Reid’s announcement shook up the state’s political landscape, Democrats were preoccupied with picking a candidate to challenge freshman Republican Rep. Cresent Hardy next year. Hardy upset incumbent Democrat Steven Horsford in last year’s 4th Congressional District election. When Horsford decided against another run for the House last month, he set off a scramble to grab a seat with favorable demographics. The 4th District has about 30,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

But the party’s best 4th District prospects highlight the lack of depth on the Democratic bench in Nevada. The contenders come with lots of baggage and ready-made attack ads against them.

State Sen. Ruben Kihuen, who has officially announced his 4th District bid, has a thin resume topped by a patronage job with the College of Southern Nevada, which essentially paid him to campaign for office. And he moved out of the Assembly district he represented in 2010 — before his term was up — to run for the state Senate.

Lucy Flores, who might seek the office after losing last year’s race for lieutenant governor, failed to disclose her spending of campaign funds on living expenses as an assemblywoman, then complained about the reporting burdens and called on taxpayers to provide her with staff to track her receipts.

State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson might jump into the 4th District race. He was fired from his Clark County job more than a decade ago (and later reinstated) for collecting sick pay from the county while drawing his legislative salary in Carson City. And, going way back, he worked as a liaison for corrupt ex-County Commissioner Dario Herrera, a job that once required him to make a cash delivery to repay Herrera’s debts, according to testimony in Herrera’s 2006 trial.

Who’s the least damaged among the three? Unless someone else steps forward, that’s the choice Democrats face in picking a 4th District nominee. And that probably has Hardy’s handlers smiling.

‘Repeat Offender’

Local libraries have no shortage of Southern Nevada true crime stories, many of them written by valley journalists. But the latest book in the genre comes from a writer with a far different background. Bradley Nickell, author of “Repeat Offender” from WildBlue Press, is the Las Vegas police detective who helped put away prolific criminal Damion Monroe for life.

Monroe’s crime spree and trial didn’t capture anywhere near as much attention as, say, the Sandy Murphy and O.J. Simpson cases. But few defendants have injected more fear into the justice system than Monroe. And Nickell’s first book, which reads like a thriller in spots, captures as much.

Monroe was an accomplished thief with a long rap sheet and high living standards. Nickell helped put Monroe and his co-defendants behind bars for stealing more than $2 million worth of goods, but being locked up for life didn’t stop Monroe from committing more crimes.

Monroe tried to orchestrate the murders of Nickell, county prosecutor Sandra DiGiacomo and District Judge Michelle Leavitt.

Monroe’s murder-for-hire bid failed, and in 2009 he was sentenced to multiple consecutive life sentences for his disturbing pursuit of vengeance. “Repeat Offender” details the entire story from a veteran cop’s perspective, from the theft investigations to the fears of being followed by hit men. It’s an impressive writing debut with co-author Warren Jamison.

The story is available as an e-book or as a paperback at Amazon. And Nickell is donating a portion of every sale to The Rape Crisis Center in Las Vegas to support counseling services for victims of child sex abuse. It’s a great read.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s senior editorial writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenn_CookNV.