Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Court to decide if lawmaker can pursue defamation case over campaign ad

CARSON CITY — An attorney for state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer of Reno asked the Nevada Supreme Court today to allow him to pursue a defamation suit against a Republican rival in the 2014 election campaign.

Attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner told the court Gary Schmidt displayed “reckless disregard” in running false statements on television against Kieckhefer in the GOP primary election.

But Charles Kozak, representing Schmidt, said there was no malice and argued there was reason to believe the statements were true.

The statements were based on a 2010 story in the Las Vegas Sun that reported Kieckhefer may have joined with some fellow Republicans in supporting Democrat Sen. Harry Reid in his re-election race against Republican Sharron Angle.

Kozak said the story carried a “strong inference” that Kieckhefer and some other Republicans backed Reid.

Schmidt ran television ads in 2010 questioning Kieckhefer’s party loyalty. Schmidt was defeated in the primary by a 2-1 margin.

A District Court in Reno ruled that Kieckhefer could move forward with his defamation suit, rejecting Schmidt’s motion to dismiss it.

Schmidt is again asking the court to dismiss the case.

The court took the arguments under advisement and will rule later.