District Court Department 1

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 9:15 a.m.

Eight seats are contested in District Court election, with several candidates competing for the open seats created by two new departments.

Valoria J. Vega, Ron D. Parraguirre, Joseph Bonaventure, Lee Gates, Jennifer Togliatti, Michael Douglas, Michelle Leavitt, Mark Ralph Denton, Sally Loehrer, John S. McGroarty, Michael A. Cherry, Nancy M. Saitta and Allan R. Earl are all running unopposed for re-election.

Department 1

Gene T. Porter is being challenged by lawyer David Lee Phillips for the seat in Department 1. In addition to running a private practice, Porter served as an assemblyman from 1986 to 1994. He held the position of majority leader his last three years in office. Porter presided over the civil division from 1998 to 2001 and currently serves as Business Court Judge and as an adjunct law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Phillips has been in private practice in Las Vegas since 1983, having served formerly as a Marine prosecutor and a hearings officer in Washington. The former university regent has defended 24 murder cases. If elected, he said he plans on improving how cases move through the system.