Candidate turns investigator on rivals

By Brian Eckhouse

Monday, July 28, 2008 | 2 a.m.

All the suspense in the race to replace outgoing State Senator Dina Titus was supposed to be limited to the three-person Democratic field.

Twice as many Democrats are registered than Republicans in District 7, which Titus has represented since 1988. And until deadline day to file for office, the lone Republican contender was Lou Toomin, a perennial candidate whose lone term in office was as a Democratic Assemblyman in 1993.

On that final day, two political unknowns filed for the Republican primary: Lindsay Nicole Madsen and Robert Zavala.

The field for the Republican nomination on Aug. 12 appeared uninspired and appropriately so: This is a traditional Democratic seat and almost no one expects that to change.

“It’s a no-win race,” says conservative blogger Chuck Muth, former executive director of the state Republican Party. “There aren’t any Senate seats Republicans are winning without being a real name. And their focus is on saving (incumbents) Joe Heck and Bob Beers.”

Republican infighting in District 7 commenced anyway.

Toomin, 73, who is retired from running a pool company, suspects Nevada Republican Chairwoman Sue Lowden went out of her way to find Madsen and Zavala in an effort to sabotage his campaign. He says he angered Lowden a dozen years ago, and believes the chairwoman has held a grudge ever since.

“Why would the party be so disruptive and put some people up at the eleventh hour?” he asks rhetorically.

Lowden says she doesn’t know what Toomin is talking about.

“Quite honestly, he’d have to refresh my memory,” she says. “I support all Republican candidates.”

The party, however, traditionally does not support a particular candidate unless he is an incumbent or has secured the party nomination.

Toomin says he hired a private investigator to probe his Republican opponents’ histories.

According to the investigator’s findings, Zavala has used two different social security numbers and is linked to a limited liability company — 2 Hott Entertainment LLC — that isn’t registered with the state.

“Why put someone in who would embarrass the party?” Toomin asks.

Zavala, 38, says the two social security numbers are his and his son’s, who shares his name. He believes the linking of both numbers to his name dates back to when his son’s mother “took him to Texas” years ago. “Documents were stolen,” he continues. “That’s when the nightmare came. It was a mess.”

But Zavala disputes the finding that he runs 2 Hott Entertainment. He says his family-owned business is named The Hott Group — and is not a limited liability company.

Zavala says no one connected to the party asked him to run. He says he’s running to fill a leadership gap in his district.

“Everyone at the party knew I was running against Dina Titus,” he says, alluding to the senator’s initial intention to seek reelection before opting to challenge Republican Congressman Jon Porter instead. “The only thing Sue Lowden ever said to me is that I’m a maverick.”

Madsen, Toomin’s investigator found, may not have sufficiently addressed all of the aspects of her financial disclosure statements. She acknowledges an error may have been made and plans to revisit the document this week.

The 23-year-old, a legal assistant in the office of attorney Kermitt Waters, says any notion that she’s the establishment’s candidate is “a complete fallacy” because she’s running on an agenda for change.

But she isn’t complaining about the allegation.

“Hey, if I’m going to get press over it, why not?” she says, laughing.