Oceguera’s campaign is so bad …

The single greatest indictment of John Oceguera's congressional campaign has been handed down. It's not any one of the fact-filled, exaggeration-free television ads put out by incumbent Rep. Joe Heck or the GOP. It's not any one of the scathing remarks from the Nevada pundits and fact-checkers who've shot down Oceguera's lie-based mud balls.

And no, he hasn't done another embarrassing TV interview.

Oceguera, the outgoing Democratic speaker of the Assembly, failed to win the endorsement of the Las Vegas Sun. The liberal editorial page backed Heck.

To put that slap in perspective, the Sun endorsed just four Republicans among the dozens of partisan candidates on November's ballot: Heck, Assembly members Lynn Stewart and Melissa Woodbury, and state Senate candidate Steve Kirk (in a dual endorsement). And this was a bipartisan cycle for the Sun, relatively speaking. A few years back, it endorsed just one Republican. (The Review-Journal, by contrast, endorsed 16 Democrats this year.)

Don't believe the Sun's attempt to pat Oceguera on the head. The Sun's Thursday editorial endorsing Heck said it was a race between "two good candidates" (no one believes that) and that Oceguera "has shown himself to be a diligent, hardworking elected official who wants to do what's right for Nevada." If Oceguera could articulate a coherent thought on economic or foreign policy, the Sun would have endorsed him in a second.

Of course, some credit here goes to Heck, who might be the best candidate on the ballot. The emergency room doctor is sharp and has integrity, command of federal issues, experience in the private sector and distinguished public service - in other words, he's everything Oceguera isn't.

Oceguera's not the worst candidate on the ballot (see today's Review-Journal editorial on Page 2D), but he certainly is the worst major-party candidate to run for a competitive federal office in Nevada in at least eight years. He self-applied a bull's-eye tattoo on his backside by collecting his legislative and North Las Vegas Fire Department salaries at the same time, then pretending to be a champion of the average struggling taxpayer. Please.

But when you really think about it, Oceguera is the perfect representative of the Democratic Party: a union-loyal foot soldier who moved up the party ranks by doing and voting as he was told, who was rewarded with a candidacy in a winnable race over more worthy party rivals. He's a product of a top-down structure that values obedience over merit.

Nonpartisan races

Although the editorial pages of the Review-Journal and the Sun have very different ideologies in partisan races, the newspapers clearly have similar judgment when it comes to nonpartisan races.

The November ballot has 16 contested nonpartisan campaigns, and the Sun and the Review-Journal disagree on just three races: In District Court, Department 14, the Review-Journal endorsed Michael Davidson while the Sun sided with incumbent Adriana Escobar; in Las Vegas Justice Court Department 8, the Review-Journal endorsed Amy Chelini while the Sun backed incumbent Ann Zimmerman; and in the Clark County School Board District E race, the Review-Journal endorsed James Clinton while the Sun offered a dual endorsement of Clinton and Patrice Tew.

For the Board of Regents and the State Board of Education, the endorsements were identical.

There's a lesson in this for voters: When editorial boards with entirely different political sympathies sat down to interview all these candidates, there was nearly complete agreement on which folks were better.

Seniors United

Speaking of endorsements, lots of candidates are touting the support of Seniors United.

Anyone who believes this endorsement is meaningful needs to go back and read my July 15 column, "About that Seniors United endorsement ..." The group has no physical address, no phone number, no email address and no website. It produces an unremarkable newsletter and hosts lunches that are well-attended - by candidates for office.

Many of the candidates who've picked up the endorsement did so by making a donation to Seniors United or sponsoring a lunch. The whole set-up creates the appearance that candidates are buying the endorsements. That's nothing to brag to voters about.

Like husband, like wife

In my Oct. 14 column, I named District Court Department 5 challenger Phung Jefferson my third-worst candidate you probably haven't heard of. She's making a late push for No. 2.

Jefferson is the wife of former Assemblyman Morse Arberry, an ethically challenged Democrat who was busted for failing to report $120,000 in campaign contributions that ended up in his personal checking account - and were promptly spent.

The attorney who investigated Arberry and built the secretary of state's case against him was Carolyn Ellsworth, who happens to be the incumbent in Department 5.

That's not a coincidence.

Jefferson is channeling her husband in more ways than one. Ellsworth's campaign points out that Jefferson's final campaign finance report doesn't include TV spots Jefferson bought prior to the Oct. 16 reporting date.

Morse Arberry's wife failing to accurately report campaign finances? Now there's a shocker.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenn_CookNV. Listen to him Mondays at 4 p.m. on "Live and Local with Kevin Wall" on KXNT News Radio 100.5 FM, 840 AM.