Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
It was a good election for incumbent district judges. All five who faced challenges were re-elected.
It also was a historic day for the judiciary as a result of the election of Deputy Public Defender Kathy Hardcastle to the vacant Department 4 seat. She and her husband -- Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle -- will become the first spouses to serve together as district judges in Nevada.
The election also thrilled attorney Mark Gibbons, who used a huge personally financed war chest to defeat Municipal Judge Valorie Vega for another vacant seat.
Department 4
The race to replace federally indicted District Judge Gerard Bongiovanni has been won by Hardcastle in a hard-fought though generally civil campaign.
Hardcastle, 43, beat former Deputy District Attorney Thomas Leen, 53, making him a bridesmaid yet again. Six times Leen had been a finalist for appointment to a District Court bench but never got the nod from the governor's office. Now his bid for election also has fallen short.
The race was a contrast of approaches compounded by a disparity in funding.
Leen, a former deputy district attorney, used an extensive campaign fund to tout his law enforcement background and parade his long list of endorsements -- including all of the county's police organizations -- before the voters.
Hardcastle, although winning the primary election, gathered only about a third of the donations Leen did and managed to buy just a week's worth of television in the closing days of the campaign.
"It's nice to know a candidate can still win with a grass-roots campaign, by going out and meeting the people who will vote for you," she said.
Leen had credited a strong women's vote for Hardcastle's win over four male candidates that included Bongiovanni, a municipal judge and a former district attorney.
"It can't be attributed to my being a female," she said. "The voters had a choice between two qualified candidates. I worked very hard and I'm happy with the result."
In her general election campaign, Hardcastle promised fairness from the bench, taking a mild slap at Leen's pro-police stance. She also pushed her experience in civil law, where Leen has little background.
Leen countered by plugging his recent history as a part-time Las Vegas justice of the peace, filling in for absent lower-court judges.
Department 7
With District Judge Bill Maupin leaving for a seat on the Nevada Supreme Court, the seat he is vacating was narrowly snatched up by Mark Gibbons, using more than $200,000 of his own money to defeat Municipal Judge Valorie Vega.
Gibbons, 45, had flooded the network and cable channels for weeks with his tough-on-crime television ads, but he denied buying the election.
"When you are a political unknown, you have to spend money just to get your name out," he said. "It was difficult to raise money so I was fortunate I could put in money of my own."
Vega, by contrast, had only a quarter of Gibbons' television money, but she already had name identification behind her from nine years on the city bench and during her career as a deputy district attorney.
"I'm thrilled with the victory," Gibbons said after it had finally become clear his slim lead would hold up. "I spent a year of my life on this race. We worked so hard."
As the election approached, the amicable contest turned negative as Vega, 41, portrayed Gibbons as merely a real-estate attorney who was trying to buy his way onto the District Court bench.
Gibbons countered with ads exploiting Vega's mediocre ratings by attorneys in the Clark County Bar Association surveys.
Department 8
In a lightly contested race, District Judge Lee Gates breezed to another six-year term over private attorney Martin Hastings, who specializes in DUI cases.
Gates had pulled more than 70 percent of the vote in the primary election and was close to that Tuesday.
A Western High School and UNLV graduate, Gates has been on the bench since being appointed in 1991 by Gov. Bob Miller.
Miller endorsed Gates, the 43-year-old husband of Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, in a television ad broadcast during the last weeks of the campaign.
Hastings, 32, is a former Las Vegas deputy city attorney.
Department 9
District Judge Stephen Huffaker, another incumbent who received only modest opposition, handily won re-election to the seat he has held since 1980.
He didn't even feel a need to stick around for the election results, instead leaving town to take care of family business.
Huffaker was opposed by private attorney Laura Ungaro, 51, who has been a part-time judge in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas Municipal Courts and serves as a small-claims and traffic referee in Justice Court.
In his re-election campaign, Huffaker, 62, advocated expanding the prison boot-camp program.
Department 11
Although District Judge Michael Douglas has been on the bench only 10 months and received a spirited challenge in his first campaign, he managed to hold onto his job by a thin margin.
Douglas, one of only two blacks on the bench, was opposed by Las Vegas attorney Ken Cory.
Although hard fought and reasonably well financed on both sides, the hallmark of the campaign was its lack of anything approaching negative advertising.
"The ads were positive and the people seemed to appreciate that," Douglas said.
But he credits simple hard work and "strong support" from those who have appeared in his courtroom for the win.
"You have got to roll up your sleeves and go at it," he said. "You have got to get out and meet the voters."
Douglas, 48, was chief deputy district attorney in the civil division before being appointed in January by Gov. Bob Miller to replace retiring District Judge Addeliar Guy.
Cory, 53, touted his wide-ranging experience, from a three-year stint as an assistant U.S. attorney to his term as the nation's youngest federal public defender to private practice.
Department 14
Attorney Peter Flangas' negative assault on incumbent District Judge Donald Mosley -- which resulted in the judge filing a defamation lawsuit in the waning days of the campaign -- didn't translate into votes for the challenger.
Mosley, 49, rolled to an easy victory over the 72-year-old private attorney.
"I think the voters rejected the negative campaigning," Mosley said during his victory party.
Flangas attacked Mosley's appeal record and alleged he had battered his girlfriend, beaten a motorist in Ely and was caught with a friend shooting at a bald eagle.
Mosley, in his lawsuit, called the claims misleading or downright false. He went on television lamenting the attacks and urging voters to ask lawyers or police officers whom they recommend for the Department 14 bench.
Flangas carried his own baggage into the race. Although he does not face charges, his name was prominently mentioned in the federal investigation that led to the indictment on corruption and racketeering charges of his friend, District Judge Gerard Bongiovanni.
But while the election is over, the feud is not and will now move to the courts. Flangas filed a countersuit against Mosley claiming he wrongfully used the action as a political tool.
Department 15
The race for Department 15 was a battle between two judges, but Boulder City Municipal Judge and Justice of the Peace Victor Lee Miller wasn't up to the task.
District Judge Sally Loehrer easily held onto her seat.
It was a relatively uneventful campaign, with both candidates emphasizing their legal backgrounds and histories of public service.
Loehrer parlayed her high ratings in a survey of lawyers conducted by the Clark County Bar Association and her heavy trial schedule into Tuesday's victory. Her trials included the recent case of James Meegan, convicted of killing his 10-month-old daughter. Loehrer sentenced him last week to a life prison term with no chance of parole.
Loehrer was endorsed by every major law enforcement group in Clark County.
Miller, 43, who grew up in Boulder City, has a personal injury law practice in Las Vegas in addition to his part-time judicial duties in Boulder City.
Other departments
Nine other district judges also were up for re-election this year to the $100,000 per year, six-year posts but were unopposed. They included: Department 1, Gene Porter; Department 2, Nancy Becker; Department 3, Joseph Pavlikowski; Department 5, Jeff Sobel; Department 6, Joseph Bonaventure; Department 10, Jack Lehman; Department 12, Myron Leavitt; Department 13, Don Chairez; Department 16, John McGroarty.
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