Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Airola unable to capitalize on scandal

If Clark County sheriff candidate Jerry Airola had not been lugging so much political baggage of his own, Rep. Jim Gibbons' grief could have been Airola's gravy.

Metro Police, after all, have been on the defensive ever since Sheriff Bill Young gave Gibbons the treacherous gift of a long-distance phone call last month, warning the Republican gubernatorial candidate that Chrissy Mazzeo had accused him of assaulting her in a parking garage the night of Friday the 13th.

Airola could have capitalized on the opportunity to refocus the campaign along the outsider-versus-insider lines that always seemed his best hope, trumpeting his outsider status as just the breath of fresh air needed to clean up a troubled department.

He could have shoveled salt into Metro's wounds, which were open wide Oct. 26, when Young held an angry press conference to defend himself and his department. Airola could have reminded voters that his Goliath competition, Undersheriff Doug Gillespie, works beneath Young's wing, a member of the same "good old boys network" that Airola has made so much noise about - the same group of guys who appeared to be up to their old protect-their-own tricks with the Gibbons controversy.

He could have said, in short, if you don't like what you see in Metro, not just in how the Gibbons episode has been handled, but the crime rate, local cops' seeming eagerness to use their guns and other woes, who do you think is more likely to change that - me or the business-as-usual guy who has been there 26 years?

Instead, Airola barely said a word - a silence that has convinced most political observers that he's so far from the finish line that even if he screamed scandal the sound wouldn't register. Meanwhile, Gillespie says he hasn't fielded a single question from his constituents about Gibbons, and looks to jog into a new job Tuesday, unscathed.

But behind Airola's quiet, there's clenched teeth: "If I was writing the (Gibbons) story, it'd be called, 'Sex, Lies and Videotapes,' " he said. "But if it comes from me, it's just sour grapes."

Gillespie won the August primary with almost 38 percent of the ballots cast. Airola came in a distant second, with about 22 percent of the votes. Airola says his latest numbers show him trailing Gillespie by only 3 percentage points - a gap that Airola says tightened dramatically last month as the Gibbons episode was unfolding in the media.

Gillespie's pollster and political adviser, Kent Oram, doesn't give out his numbers, but there's talk that other polls - those not conducted by the Airola camp - aren't nearly as favorable as the businessman's purported in-house stats.

Nevertheless, Airola has been busy lately. Last week, he flew across the country to give former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani a ride to a Republican fundraiser in Las Vegas.

When the Gibbons story broke, Airola was in Mesquite doing radio interviews. He says he immediately identified with Mazzeo, a 32-year-old single mother and cocktail waitress.

"The guys that are tied to (Gibbons) are the same people that are tied to Gillespie," Airola said. "And if you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas."

Airola hopes voters think about some particular panting dogs as they head to the polls: The company run by Gibbons' campaign adviser, Sig Rogich, who was with Gibbons on the night in question, donated $5,000 to the Gillespie campaign in September.

Still, when the TV cameras were on Airola this week, his Metro critique was suddenly softball: He scolded the police for letting service calls hold as investigators worked the Gibbons scene for hours.

Gillespie, a 26-year Metro veteran, defended police investigators from his perch in Las Vegas City Hall.

"As this all works out over the next week or so, folks will see that this police department is a darn good police department," he said. "We do a darn good job and we constantly work in this fishbowl atmosphere."

Gillespie's fishbowl, of course, is Airola's good old boys network, an anti-establishment stance that the businessman acknowledges earned him the "protest vote" - endorsements from the local Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam. He has also drawn backing from the National Rifle Association and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

In the past, Airola has sent foot soldiers to police press conferences armed with fliers criticizing Metro cronyism. This time around, when an Airola interloper attempted to penetrate Young's press conference on Gibbons, he was sniffed out and ushered to the door.

Still, if Airola would be silenced, so would everybody. Airola filed a federal defamation suit against Young and Metro union leader Dave Kallas on Oct. 19, alleging that the men damaged Airola's business reputation and political standing by insulting him at an Aug. 8 press conference. Specifically, the suit alleges, Young and Kallas told the world Airola wasn't a cop.

It's an allegation that has haunted Airola since the primary. Airola insists he is a reserve California deputy on hiatus pending court consideration. A Merced County sheriff department said Airola was "separated" from the department, but not fired.

Airola, therefore, requested that a temporary restraining order be placed on Kallas and Young, preventing them from discussing Airola's credentials until the election was over. After a federal judge refused Airola's request on Oct. 26, the sheriff hopeful said all he really wanted was an apology.

Kallas pointed to a TV news camera crew following Airola after the federal hearing. "That's what he really wanted," Kallas said.

Political consultants agree that Airola might have gotten mileage from an election season scandal that makes Metro management look bad, but the millionaire businessman says he felt he had to hold his tongue. As Airola sees it, he has been beaten into submission by bad press - attacked if he speaks and mocked if he doesn't.

"Every time I sit in front of the media, it's been a tragedy for me," Airola said. "When Young talks, it's got teeth because of who he is. When I step up, it's, 'Oh, he's a political candidate, he's behind, he's the walking dead.' "

Ultimately, Airola's total law enforcement experience is less than three years, and in recent months, he has started to sell himself as businessman first, police officer second.

Airola spent about $1.7 million in the primary, money that was largely his own and almost tripled Gillespie's $600,000 in early spending.

Campaign finance reports released this week show that, from Aug. 4 through Oct. 26, Gillespie spent almost $700,000. Airola again lapped his competitor financially, spending more than $1.75 million during the same period, again nearly all of it his own money. A sizable chunk of that - $360,000 - has been spent on late TV ads.

Airola's face might be more memorable, however, on a video that was leaked late last week.

In the video Airola is standing before the Boulder City Council in December, hashing out details of some civic project when he says, "I've never been told that I couldn't be trusted. I've been a police officer since 1985, and I'm still today a sworn, full-time police officer."

Airola was a police officer in Los Banos, Calif., for two years in the early 1990s and a Merced County sheriff's deputy starting in November 2004 and lasting roughly 11 months. Airola explains that he merely misspoke, being flustered and uncomfortable before the City Council.

Now Airola's campaign strategy is to get in front of any crowd that will have him, "working the grass roots very heavy," he said, and crossing his fingers.

"As these things come to light, all I can do is hope," Airola said. "If you leave these guys alone, they will make mistakes."

In the meantime, Gillespie's schedule of public appearances has thinned as the election nears. Normally, having fewer and fewer requests to speak at events might worry a politician. In this case, though, it's seen as a sign that it's no longer a question of who will win .

But if others are ready to declare the election little more than a formality, Gillespie refuses to relax.

"As much as people interject and say you can take a breath, you can't," he said. "I have more butterflies now than I did two weeks ago."

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