Schaefer hopes to cash in on Shafer's identity

The Las Vegas attorney is running for justice of the peace in Department 7, despite his criminal conviction for assault and battery in the same Justice Court where he wants to become a judge.

But one candidate is not happy about the campaign Schaefer is running - Clark County Public Administrator Jared Shafer, a Democrat who has held the job since 1979 and is seeking another term.

Schaefer is emulating Shafer's distinctive brown-and-orange political signs, figuring that voters have a greater chance of seeing both their signs and then when they see his name on the Sept. 1 primary ballot, vote for Schaefer. Or Shafer. Whatever.

"I'm glad to think he feels that 20 years' experience is something to emulate, but to think the voters can be had for a sign doesn't give the voters much credit," said Shafer the public administrator, who settles the estates of anyone who dies in the county without a will or has no relatives willing to administer an estate.

Meanwhile, Schaefer said he's receiving compliments from people saying they like his big signs.

Except his signs are small. He can't afford the large signs.

They are complimenting him on Jared Shafer's signs.

"I think it's something he should be excited and ecstatic about," Schaefer said.

The public administrator clearly is not ecstatic about it, declining to discuss whether Schaefer's negatives - two criminal convictions and three disciplinary actions from the Nevada and California state bars - may hurt his own candidacy.

Schaefer's name is well-known in certain circles even though he has yet to win a race in Nevada.

A Republican, he runs often and sues often.

In Nevada he ran for secretary of state in 1974, justice of the peace in 1976, Las Vegas City Council in 1995 and Congress in 1996. He lost all four times.

In California, he's lost when he's run for San Diego district attorney, San Diego city attorney, Los Angeles City Council, Congress, San Diego mayor, and San Diego County supervisor.

However, San Diego voters elected him twice to their City Council where he served from 1965 to 1971 before he returned to Las Vegas, where, according to his candidate financial disclosure statement, he had lived "since 1972 off and on."

After singer Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident, Schaefer tried to run for his congressional seat in California, even though he's a resident of Las Vegas. California's election officials rebuffed his filing efforts. He's suing over that.

He's been filing lawsuits - and losing - since 1976 trying to get Nevada to stop listing candidate's names alphabetically.

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