Embattled Williams to run for re-election

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 11:24 a.m.

Assemblyman Wendell Williams said the people in his district have convinced him to run for re-election, despite the recent controversies that have swirled around him.

"It's my constituents," said the 53-year-old Williams, D-Las Vegas.

Some were starting to wonder if Williams was going to go for the job he has held since 1987.

Williams was at the center of controversy over public employees elected to the Legislature. He was reprimanded by his then-employer, the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department, for excessive use of his cell phone and time he billed the city during the Legislature.

He was fired from his job in December on allegations of continuing to violate city policy. Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, then dropped him from the Legislature's interim education committee.

Williams also was ticketed last year for driving with a suspended license.

Williams has been keeping a low profile since he was fired from his city job in December.

And two men already have stepped up to run against the embattled lawmaker. Both are black candidates in his Las Vegas district, which is heavily Democratic.

Harvey Munford, a Democrat who teaches U.S. government at Bonanza High School, said he is challenging Williams again -- he previously ran against him in 2000.

"There are so many needs not only in my district but in the entire valley and the entire state of Nevada," Munford said. "I think I can bring some valuable experience when it comes to education."

Cornell Clark, a Republican physician, said he hopes to sway independents and centrist Democrats to vote for their first Republican assemblyman. Clark also grew up in the district and said he will focus on improving education and revitalizing the area.

Clark and Munford both said they will battle the name recognition that Williams has after serving in the Legislature 17 years. But Clark said the people in the district needs strong representation in the Legislature.

"My assemblyman has to go up to the Legislature to be effective," Clark said. "How can he be effective if he's not respected? I don't want him representing me."

Munford said he thinks he'll get more support once people see if he's running a "viable" campaign.

"Even though Wendell might have some things that affect his credibility, he's still the incumbent," Munford said. "The incumbent always seems to have the advantage, the upper hand. He still has that voting bloc that's very devoted to him and stay with him."

Williams has appeared at a few public events, including the Martin Luther King Day parade and a recent forum on increasing the number of minorities who attend college.

But according to his January campaign finance report he did not raise any money last year for re-election.

Yet some in Williams' community have remained supportive, and in October, in the midst of the storm surrounding the assemblyman, a few dozen supporters rallied to express their support, saying they thought racism was behind some of the allegations.