Election ‘99: Brown, Walsh make court finals

Bill Gang

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 10:27 a.m.

Early voting for Las Vegas Municipal Court Department 4 favored veteran attorney Nicholas Del Vecchio, but it likely was not for his nearly nonexistent campaign as much as for his perennial appearances on the ballots.

Del Vecchio has been a judicial candidate nine times in the last decade.

Attorney Bert Brown, who ended the primary election night in first place, admitted he gulped when he saw Del Vecchio's showing in the early count.

But with less than half of the votes counted, Del Vecchio had slipped to second place by a single percentage point behind Brown, 37, the only candidate to incorporate television ads into his campaign. Those ads touted his experience as a part-time justice of the peace and his membership in a pioneer Las Vegas family with a history of public service.

With 89 percent of the votes counted, Del Vecchio was in a virtual tie with Deputy Public Defender Jessie Walsh, 40, the only woman among the six candidates for the vacancy created when Judge Valorie Vega was appointed to the District Court bench.

Just a couple of percentage points behind was Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks, who had labor, police and firefighter endorsements along with the support of current District Attorney Stewart Bell and former District Attorney Rex Bell.

In the end, it was Walsh who nipped Del Vecchio by just 155 votes to transfer to the general election for the final confrontation with Brown for the post that pays $91,084 annually.

As the final votes were announced, Brown celebrated his slim victory at a party at a West Charleston Boulevard tavern although he said the win means only that he will be spending more long days pounding the pavement.

"From walking Sun City to beating the streets on the east side of town, I'll go everywhere and meet everyone," he said.

Walsh, likewise, celebrated what she admitted was "a nail-biter" election night at a party at her home.

She said her success was the result of "a truly grass-roots campaign" that she vowed to continue until the general election.

"Except that in the general I'm going to be number one," Walsh said. "I will plan, expect and prepare to win."

Walsh became a deputy public defender in December after three years in private practice and two years as a Las Vegas deputy city attorney.

She also has worked as a regional representative for former Rep. Barbara Vucanovich and as a regional aide for former Sen. Paul Laxalt.

Brown, in addition to being a part-time justice of the peace, has been a member of the Governor's Commission on Substance Abuse since 1993 and a board member of the Nevada Treatment Center since 1990.

Brown based his campaign in part on "a new and educated awareness of the substance abuse-related crimes, like DUI and spousal abuse, that plague our city and crowd our courtrooms."

A native Las Vegan, his family includes his grandfather, B. Mahlon Brown, a state senator for 26 years, and his father, B. Mahlon Brown III, a former justice of the peace and U.S. attorney for Nevada.

While there was a crowd in the Department 4 race, three incumbent Las Vegas Municipal Court judges -- Michelle Fitzpatrick, Toy Gregory, and Ron Parraguirre -- had no opposition.

"From walking Sun City to beating the streets on the east side of town, I'll go everywhere and meet everyone."Bert BrownLAS VEGAS MUNICIPAL COURT CANDIDATE