Judge alleges that successor going after his supporters

Judy Odierna

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 11 a.m.

A contentious election battle for a District Court judicial seat has continued two weeks after the election.

District Court Judge Jeffrey Sobel is charging that his successor, Jackie Glass, is putting Sobel's supporters in a difficult spot by asking them, and others, for money to erase her election debt.

"Six weeks before taking her oath she is asking people for money," Sobel said. "She doesn't disclose the nature of the debt. It's not that she owes X, Y and Z printing for a certain amount of money."

According to an Oct. 29 campaign finance filing, the most recent report available, Glass had raised more than $400,000, including more than $155,000 she had loaned her campaign.

Tuesday Glass refused to discuss the campaign, her campaign debt or her fund-raising.

"The campaign is over," Glass said. "The voters have spoken. And I have no intention of engaging in a second media contest with Judge Sobel."

Post-election fund-raising is legal, but Sobel charges that Glass is now after his supporters, whom she may see in court. It's the latest charge in what was one of the most contentious races of the election.

In a letter sent out after the election that has been circulating around town, Glass says "my biggest wish now is to start my term with no campaign debt."

It was immediately unclear how much her campaign debt is. The last election report covered donations and expenses through Oct. 24. The next filing isn't due until Jan. 15, 2003. As of Oct. 24, she still had just under $41,000 on hand.

Glass will be the beneficiary of a planned fund-raiser Dec. 3 hosted by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and David Chesnoff at a suggested $500 donation per person.

Sobel contends she is targeting 270 of his supporters in the legal community.

"I think it is wrong to put my supporters in a position after they helped me financially and said, 'No, we are not giving to you,' to come back and say, 'Pay me back I won, give me back everything I gambled.' "

Sobel said she is pressuring those that may have to appear before her one day for money before she takes the bench.

"She is asking (my) supporters, who believed she was lying, to pay her for the money she spent on the TV and mailers spreading those lies," he wrote.

The contentious campaign was marked allegations from both sides about the other's performance. Glass criticized Sobel, saying he had a small workload, worked from home and said he was lazy.

Sobel attacked Glass' experience and her work defending clients charged with drunken driving after she charged him with being lenient on a DUI sentence.

Under state law, judges and judicial candidates have 90 days from the election to raise money.

David Sarnowski, general counsel to the Judicial Discipline Commission and the executive director of the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices, said he believes many candidates, aside from just judicial candidates, try to retire debt post election.

"I think it is fairly common that they have run up all this debt and now need to retire it within the confines of the law," Sarnowski said.

Gloria Sturman, president of the State Bar of Nevada, said a situation like this one illustrates a critical need for campaign reform in judicial races.

"There are a number alternatives being proposed by the American Bar Association that are trying to find different ways to fund campaigns," Sturman said. "One option is to create a state fund for judicial campaigns and the candidates would get a certain amount from this fund. That way it wouldn't create these awkward positions for the judges that have to ask for money and for the attorneys who know they have to appear in front of those judges."