Charge opens judge’s race

Bill Gang

Thursday, April 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

"It's a damn political vendetta," Roy Woofter, campaign chairman for District Judge Gerard Bongiovanni, said of the federal indictment charging the judge with taking bribes.

Woofter didn't dispute that Bongiovanni's indictment and immediate suspension from his job is expected to be a political benefit to the three challengers for his seat in this year's elections.

"But we're definitely very much in the race," said Woofter, a former district attorney and city councilman who predicted that Bongiovanni would win the court battle over the criminal charges.

While none of the three opponents gloated Wednesday over the federal charges, each predicted the indictment effectively takes Bongiovanni out of the contest.

The challengers for the judicial position that will pay $100,000 a year include retired prosecutor and current Pro Tempore Justice of the Peace Thomas Leen, Deputy Public Defender Kathy Hardcastle and Las Vegas Municipal Judge Gregory Barlow.

Although the months-long federal corruption probe undoubtedly contributed to the trio's decision to try to unseat the one-term judge, none said they planned to raise the investigation as a campaign issue.

But the indictment changes things.

If Bongiovanni is perceived to be a strong contender, the charges that he took bribes and engaged in racketeering and wire fraud undoubtedly will play a role in the contest.

However, the challengers say they want to keep the campaign clean and focused on issues such as integrity and experience.

Woofter charged that federal authorities are doing the dirty work for the challengers by returning the indictment at a time when it would have the most negative impact on Bongiovanni's re-election bid.

He said the indictment alleges crimes in 1994 and 1995 that should have been involved in court proceedings before the election season began.

"It's the old game with them," he said. "If they can't get you one way, they'll get you the other.

"When I was district attorney, I never remember having a prepared press release for an indictment."

Leen said he doesn't take delight in Bongiovanni's indictment because it has "raised questions on the validity and integrity of the judicial system."

He said he expects it will have a "disastrous effect" on the judge's hopes to retain his seat. "I don't see how he can maintain himself as a viable candidate," he said.

Hardcastle said the indictment "can't help but let the public lose some faith in the system that is there to protect them."

She promised she "won't mudsling" but will address the federal case in the campaign, "because the people have a right to have confidence in our integrity."

"He did this to himself and now let's let the courts take care of it," Hardcastle said.

Barlow said with the indictment crippling Bongiovanni politically, he sees the election as a three-way race for a vacant seat.

"My campaign was always based on experience and integrity and not based on attacking anybody," he said.

Woofter said he would like to see the criminal case resolved before the election but realizes that with the weeks of wiretaps of Bongiovanni's home and office and the mounds of other evidence, a quick resolution is not realisitic.

He said the indictment is based on "third-party statements" and pushed by Metro Police intelligence division detectives critical of the judge's failure "to bend to law enforcement."

"I think the political aspect is very suspicious," Woofter said.

Woofter