Assembly District 6

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004 | 2:30 a.m.

Embattled Democratic Assemblyman Wendell Williams faces a familiar foe in the District 6 primary, retiring school teacher Harvey Munford.

Munford, who unsuccessfully ran for Las Vegas City Council in 1998, also lost to Williams in 2000, when Munford took 34 percent of the vote compared with Williams' 66 percent.

Williams, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1986, posted another victory in 2002 when he received almost 70 percent of the vote.

But since then Williams has received some publicity that could hurt him politically.

Notably, Williams was fired from his job in the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department after investigators determined he was paid by the city for days the Legislature was in session. That pay included sick time taken while he was in Carson City.

Williams, who is in his early 50s, would not comment for this story.

Munford, 64, said he thinks the media and public have finally caught on to the kind of person Williams is, and pledged that he would never use an elected office for personal gain.

Munford, who is retiring in September as a U.S. government teacher at Bonanza High School, said he feels that his district has not received its fair share of government projects in recent years.

District 6 includes the areas around the U.S. 95-Interstate 15 Spaghetti Bowl, and the communities to the west along Vegas Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard.

Munford said the district's image is that of a poor, crime-stricken area, and he wants to turn that image around. Part of that plan, he said, includes working to get more government investment in the area.

Munford also said education would be a major issue for him.

The winner of the Munford-Williams primary will face three challengers in the general election: Republican Cornell Clark, Libertarian Charles Schneider and Independent American Party candidate Robert Petersen.