Residence of Assembly candidate questioned

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

Republican Assembly candidate Anthony Bandiero has filed a complaint against one of his primary opponents, saying she lied when she signed papers claiming she has been living in District 29.

Anne DiMartini, a Republican who has run for several offices in Southern Nevada in the past, filed papers on May 10 stating that she had lived on the 1500 block of Signal Butte Way in Henderson for at least 30 days -- the minimum time required under Nevada statute that a person must live in a district before running for an office.

Yet Bandiero, who has been campaigning for the District 29 seat since June 2003, submitted signed affidavits from several of DiMartini's neighbors saying that another family was living in the home until Saturday.

DiMartini, who said she is a real estate broker who owns several homes, said she considered the Signal Butte residence her primary home since March 18.

She said she has been remodeling the kitchen and bathroom there and allowing the previous owners, who are building a custom home, to keep some of their things in the attic.

She said it's typical for her family to take a few weeks to move from one home to another. She said she and her family have spent the night in the home several times, though they also have been spending time out of town in recent weeks.

"We don't like to have to move in one day," she said. "In the case of Signal Butte, we wanted to remodel the kitchen and the master bathroom, so we kind of moseyed."

Clark County records show DiMartini as the owner of the home, sold in May for $495,000.

Bandiero said he obtained signatures from neighbors and filed the complaint because someone had tipped him off about DiMartini's residence.

"The main thing is, I think it's important that candidates abide by the law, especially if they're in charge of making it," he said.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said he turned over the complaint to the district attorney, who has five business days to determine whether to send the complaint to a judge, who could take DiMartini's name off the ballot.