Two suits seeking run-off dismissed

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Two suits have been dismissed by the Nevada Supreme Court that sought to force Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, into a run-off election in November.

But one of those suit-filers says the battle may not be over, despite the Nov. 7 general election being a little more than a month away.

"I am exploring the possibility of filing (in federal court for) a violation of equal protection under the 14th Amendment, hopefully within a week," the Rev. Chester Richardson, the Republican nominee for Las Vegas Assembly District 7, said today.

"Yes, I'm upset the court dismissed this without even hearing it, and I'm tired of people saying Republicans should have nominated someone in this race. Who says we (District 4 Republicans) wanted to vote for a Republican? In the general, people vote for the best person. But we won't get a chance to vote."

Richardson maintained that his suit was not in support of another candidate in the race, Uri Clinton, or Neal, but rather was a measure to allow the Republican and nonpartisan voters a say in who their next senator would be. While there are about 15,000 Democrats in the district, more than 7,000 voters are registered in other parties.

Neal gathered 2,034 votes -- six more than the 50 percent needed -- in the Democratic primary election, where Clinton got 1,820 votes and Chris Montanez got 201. Because no Republican filed for the office, Neal, according to the law, was declared the winner.

The Independent American Party of Nevada and Richardson, who is challenging incumbent Assembly Democrat Morse Arberry, filed suits, seeking an order forcing Clark County Voter Registrar Harvard Lomax to include Clinton's name on the general election ballot.

The suit, filed by the IAP, claimed the law was unconstitutional because it "deprives the vast majority of voters in Senatorial District 4 of their sacred right to vote on their senator in the general election."

The court, in a one-page order, said Lomax followed the law and added that it did not feel the court's "intervention by way of extraordinary relief is warranted at this time."

Clinton said today he was not surprised by the high court decision.

"What we need to do is challenge people and parties to get more involved politically and nominate people to run in these races," Clinton, an attorney, said.

"A solution to situations like this should be that the two top vote-getters move on to the general election. But if this election taught us nothing else, it is that people have to get out and vote because their votes count."

Attempts to reach Neal, who has held the District 4 seat for the past 28 years and has said this will be his last term, were not successful.

Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, proposed a bill in 1999 Legislature to change the law to permit the top two candidates in a single party primary to go into the general election so all the voters would have a chance to cast their ballots. But it was defeated.

Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, said she would sponsor a similar bill in the 2001 Legislature.

"I believe the law disenfranchises large numbers of voters," de Braga said. "Assemblywoman Gibbons' bill passed our house, but then it disappeared down some dark hallway in the Senate. We'll reintroduce it, and fight a little harder for it."

Sun reporters Ed Koch and Jace Radke contributed to this story.