Columnist Jeff German: Campaign craziness has certain credibility

Monday, June 28, 2004 | 8:12 a.m.

IT'S GETTING crazy on the campaign trail.

Typically this time of the year we see candidates accusing each other of wrongdoing. Voters often ignore the news because the allegations rarely turn out to be anything more than election-year hype.

But this year, unlike any election season in recent memory, the campaign craziness has a ring of credibility.

Look at what happened just last week:

More and more politicians, it seems, are facing serious issues, and those issues are having political ramifications.

For example, look at County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey. She's running for re-election after being charged in the FBI's political corruption probe linked to topless nightclub owner Michael Galardi.

And later this year, probably about the time of the September primary, federal prosecutors hope to obtain the indictment of Rick Rizzolo, another politically connected topless nightclub owner. Rizzolo is a large campaign contributor. His one-time rival Galardi was also well connected and politicians in Las Vegas and San Diego found that out with indictments with their names on them.

The lesson is how interconnected things are in Nevada politics. This week's news could cause a serious case of heartburn for those involved, and it could lead to bigger issues and entangle more people.

Perkins, who doubles as Henderson's deputy police chief and plans to run for governor in 2006, is a prime example.

He's crying politics over the special counsel's contention, saying it is "politically motivated" by Washington Republicans who know he's a Democrat on the rise in Nevada.

But the special counsel warned him weeks ago that he was violating the Hatch Act by running for re-election. He was informed that, because he's a leader in the Henderson Police Department, which receives federal law enforcement grants, he is prohibited from running in a partisan election.

Perkins ignored the warning. And now the special counsel is seeking to have him removed as deputy police chief or have the city of Henderson pay a ton of money in fines.

This political fire could spread -- the special counsel's action is sure to fuel the debate over the merits of allowing public employees to serve in the Legislature.

The federal investigation involving Williams, meanwhile, is more straightforward and the latest example of the FBI's stepped-up assault into political corruption in Las Vegas.

The mess at CCSN has a few other politicians on the fringes, and given the public employment of some of those politicians, it could be a rough ride.

As for Allen, whose candidacy in District 11 was a sham, he's just out of luck. Prior to the filing deadline, he had led everyone to believe that he was going to run in District 6, where he really lives.

There are undoubtedly more things like this to come, but why all this now?

Probably because we haven't paid as close attention to the process as we should have in the past.

Others will decry this week's news as the messy side of democracy and cynically bemoan politics.

I think it's good. Someone's paying attention.