Lawsuit filed in governor’s race

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002 | 10:06 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State Sen. Joe Neal, the Democratic nominee for governor, says he never called one of his primary election opponents a "blond bimbo."

Barbara Scott, a former topless dancer who received 21 percent of the vote in the primary election, has filed a defamation of character suit in district court in Minden, saying the comment by Neal hurt her chances in the election.

She seeks in excess of $40,000. A story appeared in the Gardnerville Record-Courier, a semi-weekly newspaper, in which Scott planned to campaign in the final days to show she was a legitimate candidate and not a "blond bimbo."

Scott ran third in the race behind "None of These Candidates" which gathered 24.2 percent.

Neal said today he has been served with the suit. But he said the newspaper story apparently is quoting Scott as saying she wanted to shed her image of being a "blond bimbo."

"I have never met the woman, never talked to her and I never said that," said Neal who won the primary election with 35.2 percent of the vote.