New faces in new places in races

Erin Neff

Thursday, Aug. 8, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

Many voters who were used to seeing certain names on the Assembly ballots will not only be in new districts but will have a slate full of unknowns running for the seats.

Redistricting alone created three new districts in Southern Nevada, but political opportunism also took incumbents out of four other seats.

"One of the reasons we have a record number of candidates this year is because there are just lists of people running for some of those open or new seats," said Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax.

The new District 37 in northwest Las Vegas drew seven candidates and will give Democrats and Republicans three choices each in the primaries.

District 13, a seat vacated by Dennis Nolan who is running for state Senate also drew three Republicans and three Democrats.

But simply having an open seat or a new district isn't always enough to spark would-be candidates.

For example, new District 34 has just two candidates who will face off in November -- the Republican Geny Del Rosario and Democrat William Horne.

And District 3, which was vacated by John Lee who is running for state controller, drew just one Republican -- Joe Wheeler -- and one Democrat -- Peggy Pierce. Independent American candidate Harold Sims is also in that race.

"You can't really tell what people are going to do," said Lyndsey Jydstrup, who heads the Democratic Assembly Caucus.

"Sometimes a party struggles to field a candidate in a given race and other times the floodgates open."

In District 13, Republicans Chad Christensen, Rudy Durso and Mark Warden are battling to reach the general. Christensen and Warden are dueling with signs lining the Beltway and stretching north to the district's border.

Democrats Mark Clarke, Mel Kalagian and Mike Slater are taking on each other, each hoping the most-conservative of the Republicans, Christensen, wins to provide an easier contrast for November voters.

New District 29 in Henderson has drawn two Republicans, two Democrats and an Independent American candidate.

Josh Griffin, the son of Reno mayor Jeff Griffin, recently moved to Southern Nevada and has already received endorsements and decent campaign contributions. He faces Michael Smith in the GOP primary, although Republican leaders think Griffin has all but sewn up the seat.

On the Democratic side, Joseph Bifano faces Stan Dreyfuss.

District 21 was vacated by Sandra Tiffany who is running for state Senate. Two Republicans and two Democrats are facing off to replace her.

Republican Walter Andonov has been actively campaigning for months and faces Jess Foster in the primary. Lisa Cano, who has recently been walking the district and campaigning around town, faces Ian Harrison in the Democratic primary.

Independent American candidate Joshua Hansen awaits the winners of the two primaries.

The last open seat, District 5, drew most of the pre-filing hype, but resulted in only two Republicans and a Democrat seeking to replace Barbara Cegavske, who is also running for state Senate.

Valerie Weber and David Griego face each other in the GOP primary with Dr. John Ellerton waiting for the winner. Before filing began, former Congressional candidate Jim Blockey and other Republicans talked about running.

Cegavske said she wouldn't be picking sides in the primary, leaving voters to pick.

"That's a real tough call," Cegavske said. "The person who works the hardest and walks (the district) the most will win."