Voters refuse to toss Moss, other women

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2002 | 9:05 a.m.

Women candidates were overwhelmingly victorious in Family Court departments, with only one male incumbent pulling out a win.

Negative campaign tactics didn't pay off for Phil Beuth, who tried to unseat incumbent Cheryl Moss in Department I by dispersing fliers telling voters to "Toss Moss."

Moss got 67 percent of the vote in a heated rematch of the 2000 election.

"I am just as ecstatic as I was two years ago and even more so," Moss said. "I'd like to give a heartfelt thanks to the voters who have twice given me their confidence and chose the candidate best suited for the job."

Moss, said she deliberately avoided mudslinging during her campaign.

"The voters were smart," she said. "Twice they rejected his campaign tactics. From day one I promised myself that I'd act like a judge and conduct myself with dignity and professionalism. I always maintained my ethics."

Beuth was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.

In another hotly contested race, incumbent Nicholas Del Vecchio was Family Courts' only male winner. With 58 percent of the vote, Del Vecchio defeated Deputy Attorney General Michelle Darquea in Department K.

"The female candidates wreaked havoc in Family Court," Del Vecchio said. "We're fortunate. It was a team effort. We all worked very hard. I'm beaming from ear to ear."

Del Vecchio blamed the lack of mudslinging in his race to the absence of contentious issues.

"We believed all along in our race that there were no issues to deal with," he said. "We kept the campaign clean. There were no innuendos or insinuations. Judicial races are supposed to be above that."

Darquea, who spent about $2,500 on her campaign, said she was surprised by her numbers.

"I feel really good about them" she said. "We were doing so much grass-roots campaigning. (Del Vecchio) had a lot of name recognition. But I'm so proud of the clean campaign that I ran and that people believed in me."

Darquea said that while Del Vecchio didn't run a negative campaign, Earnest Del Casal, one of his supporters, accused her of misrepresenting herself in the October issue of Communique, the official journal of the Clark County Bar Association.

The article said Darquea had been practicing law in Nevada since 1994. Darquea didn't move to Nevada until 1998.

Del Casal sent a letter to the Judicial Discipline Commission and to newspapers, saying Darquea was unethical.

Darquea blamed the error on a misprint. She said the Clark County Bar Association wrote her a letter of apology.

In other Family Court races, incumbent Lisa Brown beat Thomas Kurtz in Department J, getting 65 percent of the vote. Kurtz, an alternate hearing master in Family Court, drew 35 percent of the vote.

Jennifer Elliott won a seat in Department L over Fernando Guzman.

Elliott the owner of PeaceTalk Conflict Resolution and Counseling Services, got 56 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Guzman, a Family Court hearing master.

Incumbent Cynthia Dianne Steel defeated Jeffrey Neeman for a seat in Department G. Steel took 70 percent of the vote. Neeman, a partner in his own law firm, received 30 percent of the vote.

Incumbent Art Ritchie, 40, with no opponents, was automatically re-elected to Department H.