Las Vegas judge candidate files complaint over campaign mailer

Judicial candidate John Watkins filed a complaint with the secretary of state’s office against longtime political mischief-maker Tony Dane.

The Las Vegas attorney accused Dane and political consultant David Thomas of being behind a late-in-the-game mailer hammering Watkins for defending drivers charged with driving under the influence. He alleged the mailer was sent on behalf of attorney Richard Scotti, who denied Thursday he was involved.

Dane and Thomas failed to respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday and Thursday.

The day after he was interviewed for this story, Scotti asked the Judicial Ethics Commission for an opinion about the truthfulness of the ads Watkins ran in the primary. He said the ads about Scotti’s experience violated the judicial canons of ethics. However, he forgot to include the comparison ad in his backup material.

He said Watkins’ ad saying he was not a prosecutor was false because he was listed as a “prosecutor” in cases involving the State Contractors Board. Watkins said Scotti didn’t have the endorsement of law enforcement and Scotti said he was endorsed by the Clark County School District Police Officers Association.

The Election Integrity Violation Report filed by Watkins alleges that Dane’s political action committee, the Conservative Republican Caucus or CRC PAC, which sent the mailer, is no longer an active registered political action committee.

The mailer was an anti-Watkins piece but didn’t specifically recommend one of the other three judicial candidates. Showing a vehicle on its side, the mailer states, “DUI Attorney John Watkins Helps Drunk Drivers Escape Justice” and “His Views Put Our Community At Risk.”

It relied on a 1999 editorial from the Las Vegas Sun talking about a legal theory Watkins had presented to the Nevada Supreme Court that the newspaper didn’t like.

In the final primary count in the nonpartisan race, Scotti and Watkins advanced to the general election in Department 2 while William Skupa and Phung Jefferson were both eliminated. Scotti took 32 percent of the vote, Watkins took 25 percent, about 1,500 votes ahead of Skupa.

The mailer dropped just before early voting began. Watkins believes it helped Scotti and said he has talked to Skupa and Jefferson, who both denied any role in the negative mailer.

“I’m sure it goes back to Scotti and Dave Thomas and Tony Dane,” Watkins said.

Scotti insisted, “It was not sent on my behalf.”

He said he spoke to Thomas, who denied any involvement. Scotti said he hired Thomas at the urging of law partner Will Kemp, who told him, “We’ll support you, but you have to hire Dave Thomas. He’s good.”

Scotti spent $156,285 in the four-way primary. Nearly $50,000 of that went to Thomas, including more than $35,000 for advertising and $14,000 for consulting and staff costs.

Scotti said he had never heard of Dane, a telemarketer who hasn’t been highly visible in recent years, but was involved in plenty of controversy in previous campaigns.

Dane spent nine years trying to unseat Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the state’s first openly gay legislator.

■ In 1996, Dane filed against Parks, considered one of the more thoughtful lawmakers when he was in office. Dane admitted to “partial responsibility” for a series of mailers that Gov. Bob Miller called “stomach-turning” and one of the worst examples of negative campaigning he had ever seen.

■ In 1998, Dane put his father, Phillip Dane, a Republican, up against Parks and used robocalls to attack Parks’ sexual orientation.

■ In 2003, Dane was a leader in a failed attempt to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn. That same year he was campaign manager for Janet Moncrief’s Las Vegas City Council campaign. Moncrief was charged with a felony for underreporting campaign contributions and circumventing election laws. She pleaded guilty to a civil charge. Dane turned state’s witness against her and was not charged.

■ In 2004, Dane was busy. He sent out the mailer attacking City Council candidate Steve Wolfson, now the county district attorney but a longtime criminal defense attorney, for “allowing child predators to walk our streets.” Using robocalls, Dane also accused then-Mayor Oscar Goodman of having a “homo­sexual agenda.”

Goodman responded by dismissing Dane as “a pimple.”

Contact Jane Ann Morrison at jmorrison@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0275.