Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.
Mark DeStefano finished first in the race for the District 13 university regent seat Tuesday, hours after a District Court judge declared he had failed to meet the residency requirement for his candidacy.
With 100 percent of the precincts reported, DeStefano had 4,342 votes--22.8 percent -- which enough to edge out James Dean Leavitt for first place. Leavitt was just 74 votes behind DeStefano, with 22.4 percent.
Gloria Sturman finished third with 3,928 votes for 20.6 percent, 9 votes ahead of incumbent Tom Kirkpatrick who also had 20.6 percent. Jim Germain held fifth place with 1,825 votes -- 9.6 percent -- and Matthew Berkus was in sixth place with 792 votes for 4.2 percent.
Kirkpatrick said he was wasn't surprised by his placement.
"The county is anti-regent right now, we all know that," Kirkpatrick said. "And our good chancellor didn't help us any with his fine memo last week. It didn't involve me, but I'm tainted with the same brush."
In an Aug. 27 memo Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers criticized the Board of Regents for letting in-fighting and petty turf wars interfere with the needs of the University and Community College System's eight campuses.
Leaving the Board of Regents may actually be a relief, Kirkpatrick said.
"I've done my best to represent all my constituents, I haven't catered to the special interests of any one group and I'm proud of my service," Kirkpatrick said. "Maybe now I'll get my life back."
Typically the top two finishers in the primary advance to the November ballot for a run-off. But at an 11th-hour hearing Tuesday morning, District Judge Lee Gates ruled DeStefano was ineligible to run for the office because he did not actually live in District 13.
DeStefano can appeal that decision to the state Supreme Court. Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said this morning, that if the ruling holds, Leavitt and Sturman will appear on the November ballot.
Gates based his decision on DeStefano's own testimony. The candidate admitted that he has never physically slept in the Lee Canyon cabin he purchased in March 2004. He said he sleeps most nights at his home in the Queensridge development in Las Vegas, which is in District 7.
DeStefano said late Tuesday he was thrilled to have been the top vote-getter and would appeal.
"The Legislature needs to make the residency requirements more understandable," DeStefano said. "For a normal human being going to register (as a candidate), it's not clear at all.
Leavitt, a Las Vegas defense attorney, said he does not believe DeStefano has grounds for an appeal.
"He doesn't live in the district, that's obvious," Leavitt said.
Sturman said Tuesday she expects to be on the November ballot against Leavitt.
"I'm the number two vote-getter of the people who were eligible for this race," Sturman said. "I'm proceeding with my plan for the general election based on the assumption that I'm in it."
On the stand at Tuesday's hearing, DeStefano also said he could not say for sure when electricity became available at the cabin, nor when other necessities such as a refrigerator or an oven were installed. The cabin still does not have phone service, which is why DeStefano said he has not spent the night.
DeStefano said on the stand that it was his intent to live in the cabin and that it was also his intention to build another home in District 13. Even after the ruling, he insisted that he had followed state law, which allows a candidate who owns two homes to choose which to list as the primary residence.
But that subsection of the state's statute on residency does not exclude the requirement that the candidate actually reside in the home, Gates said, citing two Nevada Supreme Court decisions.
"He's never actually resided there," Gates said.
Gates also said he doubted that DeStefano would give up the 3,500-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom luxury home DeStefano testified he owned in Queensridge in order to move into the 1,000-square-foot cabin in Lee Canyon.
Harold Gewerter, DeStefano's attorney, argued during the hearing that the money DeStefano put into the home showed his intent to live there, and that he should not be compared to those candidates who rent an apartment in another district in order to run.
"This is the real deal," Gewerter said. "It's a real house. It's a real residence."
Leavitt, Jim Germain and Matthew Berkus, the three candidates running against DeStefano who had filed the civil suit challenging his residency, said they were pleased with the judgment but wished it had come before Tuesday's primary election.
"I think he characterized the defendant's testimony accurately, and I give him a lot of credit for making a tough decision on Election Day," Leavitt said.
DeStefano raised more than $133,000 for his campaign and had spent more than $67,000 of that as of Thursday, when he mailed his expense report. More than $60,000 of that money was a personal loan, but DeStefano said Tuesday that he had spent the money because he believed the job was important.
Leavitt raised and spent about $73,600, including more than $55,000 of his own money. Germain raised and spent about $19,600, Gloria Sturman raised and spent about $23,000, and incumbent Tom Kirkpatrick spent $14,000 of his own money. Berkus only spent $40.
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