DA candidates make good use of office

Erin Neff

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 10:19 a.m.

It's a good thing all three of the main candidates for district attorney have the office to already unofficially help their campaigns.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Davidson started the trio's office campaigning by calling a press conference last month to call for a moratorium on granting new licenses to outcall entertainment services.

The services, he said, were fronts for prostitution. But the president of the area's largest outcall service operator called Davidson's allegations a front for his campaign to be DA.

This week, Deputy Chief District Attorney Abbi Silver grabbed some headlines -- and got her picture in this newspaper and all over television -- thanks to a slam dunk case against a nut claiming to be casino executive Steve Wynn's half brother.

The suspect, Donald Phillips, goes on trial next month on 20 extortion and aggravated stalking counts due to his frequent letters to Wynn purporting to be a half brother entitled to half of a non-existent $100 million estate.

Silver couldn't wait for the trial, and instead sought publicity by asking the judge to declare Phillips a habitual criminal -- a designation that would make him eligible for 20 life sentences if he's convicted.

After some silly press about changing the spelling of her first name twice, Silver must want voters to know she's tough on crime -- especially crimes against important people.

Lastly, Deputy Chief District Attorney David Roger uses the office in a recent mailer targeting Republican voters for his primary against Silver.

Right next to a glowing endorsement quote is a picture of Roger with current DA Stewart Bell. The two are looking over a file. But it isn't Bell's quote accompanying the photo. It's an endorsement from retired prosecutor Melvyn Harmon.

Bell, for the record, will probably endorse fellow Democrat Davidson -- and in a sense, already has by attending that outcall press conference with him.

Roger's mailer also tries to cash in on his Binion murder trial fame by highlighting a photo from the trial showing him talking to jurors under the watchful gaze of uber-popular Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Wonder what the three would do with their campaigns without their office.

Prostitute label

Nevada politicians love to label proponents of Yucca Mountain as whores for the nuclear power industry, but the prostitute label is being tossed about for political gain for both candidates in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

For weeks, Democrat Dario Herrera has urged his Republican opponent Jon Porter to return about $70,000 in campaign money he received from House Republicans who support the dump.

In a television interview this week, Porter turned the accusation back on the Democrats.

"Well, my response to my opponent has been that as soon as he asks the same of Sen. (Harry) Reid, we would do the same thing," Porter said on "DayOne Las Vegas" on Wednesday. "Of course Sen. Reid has taken thousands."

Reid, D-Nev., recoiled when he heard the comments, and immediately sent out a statement attacking Porter.

"Jon Porter talks of working with these Yucca Mountain advocates as if they are potential friends and allies of our state," Reid said, according to a report this week in Jon Ralston's FLASH. "They may be Jon Porter's friends and allies, but they aren't Nevada's."

State Democrats also hammered Porter for having the audacity to criticize Reid at the sensitive time leading up to the Senate vote.

Reid added: "Jon Porter has gone to desperate lengths to hide the fact that he is in the pocket of Yucca Mountain prostitutes."

Not so fast there Mr. Reid. Turns out Herrera's coffers aren't so free from nuke support money after all.

Prior to the House of Representatives vote on Yucca, nobody said anything about the $5,000 total Herrera received from Democratic Congressman Ed Pastor of Arizona, Calvin Dooley of California and Jim Davis of Florida.

But as long as Herrera's taking shots at Porter, should he return the money now that all three voted to ship nuclear waste to Nevada?

Sure there's a difference between congressmen who just vote for something and those who make a point of pushing Yucca. There's also a difference between $70,000 and $5,000.

But, until prostitution is legalized in Clark County, is it safe for a politician to take a Yucca-tainted dime?

Survey says

Candidates are crowing after the results of the first legitimate poll surveying this fall's elections.

Harrah's Entertainment polled 400 registered Clark County voters last weekend and turned up some interesting numbers.

Democrat Erin Kenny is trailing Republican incumbent Lorraine Hunt by 24 points in the part of the state Kenny, a Clark County Commissioner, is supposed to have support.

The Attorney General's race is a statistical tie with Democrat John Hunt (18 percent) and Republican Brian Sandoval (22 percent.)

Gov. Kenny Guinn's coronation didn't earn a fictitious line from a local bookmaker in Sunday's Sun for good reason. Guinn is leading Democratic state Sen. Joe Neal 68-18.

But there is more fodder for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's ego in the survey. The man who passed on the governor's race has a higher favorable rating than the incumbent (79 percent to 72 percent.) Both are better than President Bush (70 percent.)

All results had a margin of error of 5 percent.

For the record