Candidates ordered to clear up finance questions

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, March 4, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

The secretary of state's office gave two legislative candidates notice on Tuesday that they have until March 17 to clear up questions about their recent campaign finance reports.

One of the candidates, Assemblyman Chad Christensen, R-Las Vegas, cut himself $17,800 in checks between Jan. 9, 2003 and Dec. 17, 2003.

That includes $13,700 Christensen paid himself from campaign funds from Aug. 14 to Sept. 18, 2003.

Las Vegas resident Vanessa Nordyke, one of Christensen's constituents, filed a complaint against Christensen on Feb. 12, saying she had read questions about Christensen's campaign finances in media reports and hoped the office would investigate.

"As a new resident to Nevada, I was startled to read that a state legislator would flagrantly disrespect the laws he is supposed to both create and uphold," she wrote.

When contacted by the Las Vegas Sun several weeks ago, Christensen said he had been reimbursing himself for expenses incurred during his campaign. He said he was in the midst of an internal audit that he would provide to the Sun. He has not yet done so.

If Christensen doesn't respond to the secretary of state's office by March 17, he could face fines, said secretary of state spokesman Steve George.

If Christensen does respond, George said, Secretary of State Dean Heller and his deputy secretary for elections, Ronda L. Moore, have three options: To accept Christensen's explanation, to ask for further explanation or to forward the case to either the Nevada Department of Investigations or the Attorney General's office.

The other candidate who was notified Tuesday of a campaign complaint is Assembly candidate Jon Petrick, a Republican running to represent District 29. Petrick said Wednesday he has settled the matter.

His company, Las Vegas Pain Relief Center, Inc., loaned his campaign $17,500, which exceeds the $10,000 contribution that is allowed.

While candidates are allowed to loan an unlimited amount of money to their campaigns, businesses are not, even if the business is owned by the candidate, George said.

Petrick said he misunderstood the campaign finance rules and has refunded the money to his company. He said he is running an ethical campaign but received bad advice on how to make the loan to his campaign.

"The best part about it is I have my pastor as my treasurer," he joked.