Filing deadline prompts moving flurry

Erin Neff

Tuesday, April 23, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

David Griego knew he had established residency in his new home Friday night when the pizza delivery man found the place.

Now he hopes voters can find him, too.

Griego, other political newcomers and even some incumbents recently moved in order to meet the requirements of a state law mandating political candidates live in the district for which they are seeking election for at least 30 days before the end of the candidate filing period. Candidates had to be in their new homes by Saturday.

"I guess that made it official," said Griego, a Republican running for Assembly District 5. "If the pizza guy could find us, we'd finished the move."

To some the process is simply carpetbagging -- moving for political opportunity into a district with more favorable voter registration or into an area without an incumbent. Candidates say their moves show they have made personal and financial sacrifices indicative of their commitment to public service.

"It was a lot harder than I expected," said Assemblyman Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas, who, because the boundary changed, had to move to stay within the district he has represented since 1974. "It costs money and now I'm going to be really busy getting to know the district."

In addition to the move and the new constituents, Price faces a primary opponent in Kelvin Atkinson, and if Price advances to the general election, he'll face well-backed Hispanic GOP activist Luis Valera.

Valera also moved into District 17, but did so at a time when Price was still living outside the district. Previously Valera lived in Green Valley and faced the potential of a primary opponent, Walter Andonov, in District 21.

"It didn't make my situation any easier," Valera said of his move.

Valera said one of the reasons he moved was because he had long desired to see Hispanics elected to the state Legislature and felt more justified running in North Las Vegas, which has a larger Hispanic population than Green Valley.

Assembly District 5 drew the moving vans when incumbent Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, decided to vacate her seat and run for the state Senate.

Neither Griego nor former congressional candidate Jim Blockey fear they will be called carpetbaggers for moving into the district.

"Previously I was two blocks north of Sahara, and now I'm two blocks south of Sahara," Griego said. "This was a commitment I was willing to make and the issues from the old neighborhood to the new neighborhood haven't really changed."

Blockey, who was asked to run for county commission before settling on the Assembly, currently lives in District 42, but has established a temporary address in Assembly District 5 as he searches for a permanent home there.

"I can't imagine the move even being an issue, especially being as it's so close," Blockey said, noting Assembly District 5 is three blocks from his current home. "If I moved across town or did this for obvious political reasons, that would be different."

Blockey, who is already running television ads that he said will gauge his name recognition, said the issues in District 5 are no different than the ones in his current district.

But Valerie Weber, a Republican who has lived in District 5 for six years, said she thinks voters will appreciate that she has been active in her homeowner association and other issues in the district.

"When I start to do more walking in the neighborhoods I will let folks know that I have lived in the district," Weber said. "I'm not sure how much that means to the voter, but I'll discuss how I've lived there."

Assembly District 37 -- an open seat created during redistricting -- also led to some change of address forms at the post office.

All three Republicans running for the seat have moved into the district in the past year. Now the one who has lived there the longest is criticizing his opponents for carpetbagging.

Gary Horrocks moved into the district last May. Francis Allen moved there last September and Earlene Forsythe -- chairwoman of the Washoe County Republican Party and co-chair of the Nevada GOP -- moved into the district in March.

"They both moved down from Reno," Horrocks said. "Earlene was going to run against the Republican incumbent mayor of Reno, but the party talked her out of it and told her about this Assembly seat."

Allen said she was living in Washington, D.C. prior to her move to district 37. She also worked in Carson City during the 2001 Legislature. Forsythe could not immediately be reached, but ironically for her, Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin announced last week he won't seek re-election.

Griffin's son, Josh Griffin, now lives in Henderson and is running for Assembly District 29 -- a seat which was moved to Southern Nevada during redistricting.

Redistricting also forced several incumbents into the same district and drew several others out of their existing district.

Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons and Assemblyman David Humke, both R-Reno, were put in the same district, forcing Humke to decide not to run for re-election. Both Price and Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, were drawn out of their existing districts.