ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 21

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 1:28 a.m.

Three men will be vying for the Assembly District 21 seat vacated when Republican Assemblyman Walter Andonov accepted a fellowship to pursue his doctorate at Yale University.

Seeking to keep the seat within the party is Robert Seale, former Nevada Republican Party chairman and state's treasurer from 1990 to 1998. Seale, a 62-year-old accountant, said his background in finance and government qualify him to fill the seat.

Those who know Seale said he filed to run for the seat within hours of hearing that Andonov would not seek re-election.

State Republican leaders, who in 1995 named him Man of the Year, have touted Seale as a popular and respected member of the community. Seale has lived in the district for five years.

Seale also called his work with education his "greatest legacy," pointing to the Nevada Prepaid College Tuition Plan, which he introduced in 1998.

Firefighter Joseph Pitts, a 48-year-old Democrat and longtime Green Valley resident, is banking on his 30-year tenure in government to help him secure the seat for his party.

Pitts, who holds a bachelor's degree in political science from UNLV, sees growth as a hot-button issue facing the district.

Pitts, an Air Force veteran who served during the Vietnam era, also says his experience as a Henderson firefighter has allowed him a rare insight into the lives of those living in his district, touting his involvement in a petition drive that led to a paramedic service being provided by the Henderson Fire Department.

Pitts is also a proponent of allowing judges discretion in juvenile sentencing guidelines.

Jesse Dominic Harris, 23, Clark County chairman of the Independent American Party of Nevada, is running on a platform geared toward eliminating what he sees as wasteful government spending.

If elected, Harris, an active petitioner for the failed Axe the Tax initiative, said he will work to repeal the state's $833 million tax increase, eliminate the UNLV Dental School and Nevada State College at Henderson.

Harris, the information technology director at a Las Vegas computer repair firm, also said he will use his position to keep illegal immigrants from being eligible for state welfare benefits.

Harris says he will also champion the development of solar, wind and geothermal power resources in Nevada if elected.