Running anyway

Candidate’s very public problems haven’t kept her from campaigning

Sam Morris

Republican Assemblywoman Francis Allen faces three primary rivals. She’s going through a divorce, and an ethics complaint has been filed against her.

By Brian Eckhouse (contact)

Sat, Aug 9, 2008 (2 a.m.)

2008 Primary Election

These are the obstacles facing one of the candidates running to represent part of Summerlin in the Assembly:

She was arrested for allegedly stabbing her husband, a man she’s now divorcing. The wedding florist who said she got stiffed complained to the state Ethics Commission. Her own Republican Party isn’t fond of her. She wouldn’t talk to reporters. She was very reluctant to disclose how she makes a living, finally acknowledging she owns a sandwich shop. And she’s running against three Republicans who don’t have nearly as much baggage: Andrew Brownson, a waiter at the MGM Grand, and retirees Flo Jones and Richard McArthur.

Having said all that, the seemingly beleaguered candidate — incumbent Francis Allen — has a decent chance of winning her party’s primary Tuesday and, from there, a third consecutive term in the Assembly.

Welcome to the tumultuous and Republican-leaning Assembly District 4, where three little-known candidates hope to knock out the incumbent — but may serve only to so fragment the vote that the better-known Allen wins.

When confronted with all the challenges facing her reelection effort, she shrugs. Sure, she considered not seeking reelection, she says. For about 37 seconds.

Allen, 30, says her pastor encouraged her to run.

She began walking precincts in March — a month before a florist complained to the state Ethics Commission that Allen owed more than $5,000 for her wedding flowers. Allen says she stopped payment on the check because she didn’t like the florists’ service.

The handful of prospective voters encountered for this story seem unaware of the troubles that have shadowed Allen, including the now-dismissed charges stemming from a fight with her husband, Paul Maineri, in May. (She was arrested May 20 on suspicion of battery with a deadly weapon after he claimed she knifed him. Two months later, he told police he had stabbed himself.)

Voters who are aware of the incident generally offer a supportive hand, sometimes a hug, she says. She seems relieved by the pockets of sympathy. Most of the voters, aware or otherwise, are polite.

On her walk through a neighborhood near West Lake Mead Boulevard and North Rampart Boulevard on Thursday, she encounters one woman who tersely recalls that she and Allen spoke two years ago. “We had that discussion and I looked into it, and I was right,” the self-righteous woman tells Allen, leaving unclear what the topic was.

Late in the primary campaign — on July 29, two days before she filed her divorce papers — Allen moved to preempt discussions about the knife incident by writing an open letter about “personal problems in my marriage.” It came after months of deflecting media calls over the incident, which she justified because her policy “has been to leave personal issues out of politics.”

She says she debated for months whether to issue the letter. “It’s been in the newspaper, so I thought the electorate deserved a statement on the matter.”

•••

Andrew Brownson, a 35-year-old waiter, sits in the middle row of seats in a silver Toyota Siena minivan, sliding the door ajar so he can hop in and out while a campaign aide drives him around. It’s the Tuesday before primary day and there are still some doors of likely Republican voters he has yet to knock on.

Before each stop, Brownson is briefed on who the voter is.

Like Allen, Brownson doesn’t introduce his platform to voters in any detail. He’ll engage voters on the issues when prompted, but with the primary so close, handshakes and pamphlets suffice.

About a month ago, Brownson took a leave of absence from the restaurant he works at in the MGM Grand to campaign up to 10 hours a day. He hopes to win by pushing his conservative bona fides — and as someone disillusioned with a Republican Party that he says has lost its bearings.

•••

Flo Jones, 69, leads the most understated campaign of the four candidates, not by design but by circumstance. She contributed little money to her campaign, and it’s too hot to walk the district like her opponents.

On Thursday, Jones, a resident of Sun City Summerlin and a retired teacher, and her friend, neighbor June Wood, are calling prospective voters by phone. Jones is outside with her cell phone, under an awning; Wood sits in the cool kitchen.

They make calls in the morning, before noon, and then again after 6 p.m. Jones believes the odds of reaching voters are better at these times. She tells voters she’s against a failed Assembly bill that she fears would have raised their homeowner association fees and that she’s a lifelong resident of Nevada, with a decade in her current community.

•••

Richard McArthur, 65, is home Thursday. He said he’s been walking the district since March and he’s about done campaigning for Tuesday’s primary. Rush Limbaugh’s baritone wafts through the kitchen.

McArthur’s resume appears to be a Republican consultant’s dream: retired Air Force and retired FBI who’s lived in Nevada for 27 years, nine in his hilltop home in the northwest reaches of the Las Vegas Valley.

For good measure, he calls some voters by phone. The messages are succinct — his name and a mention that he’s running for office, thank you. Issues are not broached.

•••

Allen approaches another home, the second to last one she plans to visit today. There’s a sticker affixed to the door, apparently to ward off door-knocking campaigners: “I VOTED.”

All she can do is laugh.

Discussion: 12 comments so far…

By franklin

8/9/08 at 12:22 p.m.

Suggest removal

Mr. Eckhouse, I'd be interested to know the name of Ms. Allen's sandwich shop and if it is located in Las Vegas.
By geezelouise

8/9/08 at 7:29 p.m.

Suggest removal

I think it's time to call the WAAAAMBULANCE.

Poor little Frances Allen. Don't you all feel sorry for her after reading this?

But, I hope not sorry enough to vote her into office again.

I have watched her while in the Legislature and she acts like a flirting teenager instead of a woman with the responsibilites of representing citizens and their tax dollars.

I hope our criteria for a vote is higher than sympathy.
By franklin

8/10/08 at 10:29 a.m.

Suggest removal

I find it odd that a person running for office would be reluctant to say how they make a living. McArthur and Jones are retired (easily verified), Brownson works at the MGM as a waiter (also easily verified). What is such a big deal about Allen coming clean about her so-called profession? Why the secrecy?

That's because she doesn't work. She has claimed until now to be a copy writer, which is false. Now she says she owns a sandwich shop. Well, there is no record of a business license listing her in Southern Nevada. If she owns a business, it isn't here. More deception.
By khaskins

8/10/08 at 11:01 p.m.

Suggest removal

You know, I guess it's much easier to talk down about someone than to actually look up the facts! I've been to Francis Allen's sandwich shop twice and it has been around for many years. She has worked hard to learn about the history of her shop and she takes care of everything. She works there everyday to make sure that her employees are always working and she puts orders in for the inventory, takes care of payroll and even makes sandwiches. I know that she purchased it from the original owner, and yes, it is in Las Vegas. Also, if someone doesn't want to recall "how they make a living", then who cares?! It's legal and it's hers. Let's focus on how she has done as an Assembly Woman and not on her decisions in her personal life, shall we?!
By khaskins

8/10/08 at 11:07 p.m.

Suggest removal

By the way, just another little addition to all the negative......why in the heck would she say what the name of her sandwich shop is anyway? Would you want all of you negative, bad mouthing, lazy fact finders to bother you at work? Okay, yes, lets tell the media where her sandwich shop is.....that way everyone in the district can go there and bombard her with a bunch of fluff and nonsense when all she wants to do is go to work and have a peaceful place to get away from it all! Good grief! Let's get over ourselves for a minute.....shall we? At least we know she's human and makes mistakes. I'd rather vote for someone like that then someone who does nothing but moan and groan about others.
By franklin

8/11/08 at 2:51 p.m.

Suggest removal

Lazy fact finders? I call it being an informed taxpayer and resident.

By the way, if you have been to Allen's sandwich shop twice, how would you know if she's there every day to "make sure her employees are always working," learning the history, doing payroll, etc? That's a lot of info to glean over two subs.
By geezelouise

8/11/08 at 8:16 p.m.

Suggest removal

Thanks Franklin. I agree. as an informed taxpayer and resident, I want to know how I am being represented.

That is my right as a taxpayer. I don't think this person represents me, do you?
By khaskins

8/12/08 at 12:05 a.m.

Suggest removal

I've may have only been there twice but know her and her family and she is the owner/manager of her place.....who else would do it? And yes, I stand by my "Lazy fact finders" comment because if you would actually do some looking in, you would know what she is really about. You can't believe everything you hear, and yes, you are a taxpayer and have the right to feel the way you feel, but is it because of what's in the papers or because you actually know these things? Did you know that she grew her hair out and cut it off for "Locks of Love"? Did you know that she volunteers her personal time for helping others? Probably not, because she isn't an attention hound and doesn't need or want the press for those things. So she's made some mistakes in her personal life....who hasn't. Because you make a mistake or bad decision in your personal life, would that make you bad at your job? Her sandwich shop has nothing to do with how you are being represented.....how she has represented district 4 for the past 2 terms determines that.
By franklin

8/12/08 at 7:38 a.m.

Suggest removal

Whether or not she is a business owner or lives off a trust fund DOES impact how I am represented. It also means she has deceived voters by telling us up until now that she is a "copy writer." Why lie about something like that? By the way, since you know her, tell her that it's "wig" not "whig."

Nice that she supports a charity or two, but that does NOT impact how I am represented.

Her personal life became public when she decided to run for the assembly. People who are "private" don't run for office.

I'll be supporting whomever beats her in the primary. And if the vote is unfortunately split and she actually wins, I'll be volunteering my time for the Democrat in this race, whomever he is.
By khaskins

8/12/08 at 10:58 p.m.

Suggest removal

Well, she conceded, and it's over, but I felt it was interesting how you compared being "an informed taxpayer and resident" to being "a lazy fact finder", see we all make typos here and there. Anyway, the only mistake that she made was in her decision for a husband. As far as the copy writer goes, how do you know she wasn't. Did she say that she was one or still is one? Well, I wish you the best of luck, franklin. In the future wherever life takes you, I hope that you discover that an open mind and open heart is always better then talking bad or down about someone you really don't know. It only makes that person feel bad and makes you look that much more shallow and weak. Good luck!
By franklin

8/12/08 at 11:08 p.m.

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I guess there were a lot of informed taxpayers this primary election, informed enough to have the good sense to vote for someone else.

Talking bad about someone is maligning the good name of a business owner and not paying for your wedding flowers and using a political mailer to further damage the reputation of a poor fool who married the wrong woman.

Enjoy your sandwiches!
By khaskins

8/16/08 at 1:44 a.m.

Suggest removal

Thank you, next time I go to the shop, I'm sure that I will enjoy them. :0)They're quite good.