Leavitt joins Board of Regents

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Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004 | 11:27 a.m.

Las Vegas attorney James Dean Leavitt was elected to the District 13 seat on the Board of Regents Tuesday.

With all of the precincts reporting, Leavitt received 41,106 votes, defeating Gloria Sturman, who had 31,625 votes.

Leavitt, 42, said he would push to expand technology and engineering programs at local institutions as a way of diversifying Southern Nevada's economy.

For the District 7 seat, incumbent Regent Steve Sisolak was elected to a second term by a wide margin.

Sisolak received 39,126 votes, and the challenger, medical professor Dr. Jack Surpure, had 13,999 votes.

Sisolak, 50, has expressed frustration with the Board of Regents' repeated violations of the state's open meeting law and criticized his colleagues for the decision to fire two community college administrators last fall. He has pledged to push for greater public access and accountability at all levels of the University and Community College System of Nevada's administration.