Candidates outside the limelight meet voters

By Kyle B. Hansen

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010 | 7:45 p.m.

About 100 candidates or their representatives packed into the rotunda at the Clark County Government Center for a meet-and-greet with voters Wednesday.

It was an opportunity for candidates from minor parties or running for local offices to get their names in front of voters while the media focuses on more high-profile races.

“The whole country, the whole state at least, is hypnotized by the race between (Sharron) Angle and (Harry) Reid,” said Mark Newburn, a candidate for the state higher education system’s board of regents. “Even the governor candidates are having a hard time getting attention. For us, this is a chance to meet the voters.”

While Democrat Rory Reid and Republican Brian Sandoval spoke at an event together, their opponents in the governor’s race were at the county event, shaking hands with voters.

Some of them said they are excluded from debates because they don’t meet a certain threshold of support in the polls or in the amount of money they’ve raised.

“We need to get in with people like this and get people to know it’s not just all about Reid and Angle or Reid and Sandoval,” said Jason Brooks, a campaign manager for Gino DiSimone, an independent running for governor.

“People don’t even know there’s five other candidates for governor,” Brooks said.

In addition to Reid, Sandoval and DiSomone, David Curtis from the Green Party, Floyd Fitzgibbons from the Independent American Party, independent Aaron Honig, and Arthur Lampitt Jr. from the Libertarian Party are running for governor.

Lampitt said people he’s talked to are often happy to learn he is running.

“People are usually enthusiastic and ecstatic to know they have more than two choices,” he said.

Lampitt said he works hard to meet voters, often introducing himself to 1,000 people a week on tours of rural parts of the state.

“We’re self-sufficient. We don’t wait for voters to come to us. We go to where the voters are,” he said.

Wednesday’s event was primarily organized as a way for county employees to meet candidates, but the public was also invited.

At some points, there appeared to be more candidates and campaign workers present than voters.

John Bonaventura, a Democrat running for Las Vegas Township constable, said it was more like a “meet-your-opponent day.”

“But people running for other offices and their supporters vote, too,” he said. “You need all the votes you can get.”

Other candidates also said they were happy to talk to everyone, even people who don’t live in their districts and could not vote for them.

“Whether they are in your district or not is not relevant, because people know other people across the county,” said Aaron Ford, a Democrat running for state Senate District 12.

Jeff Durbin, who is running for County Commission District F with the American Independent Party, said he talked to a woman who used to live in the district. She still has lots of friends in her old neighborhood and promised to tell them about him, Durbin said.

Carolyn Edwards, running to keep her seat as a School Board trustee, said the event is “an opportunity to meet potential voters but it also gives you a chance to talk to people about education whether they live in your district or not. It’s a two-way street. You learn what other people think about the issues and give them a chance to get to know who you are.”

Some candidates said they also enjoyed interacting with their opponents and the other politicians.

“It’s a chance to meet other candidates and put a face with the name,” said Mark Doubrava, a candidate for the state higher education system’s board of regents.

“There’s something to be said for being able to talk to other candidates and have a rapport with them,” said Joe Hardy, who is running for state Senate District 12. “That’s what politics is about.”

Some even become friendly.

“When you’re on the campaign trail, you get to know the candidates, so it’s kind of like a reunion,” said Newburn, the board of regents candidate.

Victoria Sanchez came to the candidates’ day with her 3-year-old son and her father after hearing about it on the news.

“I’ve lived here all my life, but now I’m starting to get more interested in (politics), now that I have kids and pay taxes,” she said.

Most of the candidates were good at explaining how things work and where they stand on issues, she said.

“But I wish I would have had more questions written down before we came because I have lot’s of questions,” she said.

Mary Clark and Kim Sapp attended the event together on their lunch break. They had hoped to meet the judicial candidates but were disappointed.

“We figured to see them all in one room would be better than doing it one at a time,” Clark said. “It’s disappointing that a lot of them aren’t here and they have representatives that can’t answer your questions.”