Regent candidate dropped from ballot due to felony conviction

CARSON CITY - A university regent candidate from Las Vegas has been ordered off the Sept. 1 primary ballot because he did time for drug sales and hasn't had his civil rights restored.

District Judge Mike Fondi ruled Thursday that the Nevada Constitution clearly states a candidate for public office must be a qualified elector, and Darryl Carr isn't eligible to vote because of his felony record.

Carr wasn't present in court, although he had said earlier he would fight a move by the attorney general's office to get his name off the list of candidates for the District 2, Subdistrict G regents seat that includes part of Clark and Nye counties.

The attorney general filed a lawsuit to remove Carr's name after his criminal record was disclosed by John Snowden of Las Vegas, a former business associate who had a falling-out with Carr.

Carr said he spent nine years in prison on a drug charge and his civil rights won't be restored until next year. He said he was set up by FBI agents and his house was used for a drug sale in Las Vegas.

Carr, freed three years ago, insisted there's nothing in law that prohibits an ex-felon from running for a nonpartisan office such as a seat on the regents' board that oversees Nevada's university and community college system.

He also said he'd be a good "watchdog" regent because he could "spot a crook a mile away."

Fondi has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday to determine whether another regent candidate, Arnold Stalk of Las Vegas, should be removed from the Sept. 1 primary ballot because of his switch in June from Democrat to Republican.

Stalk is seeking the same regents' seat that Carr wanted. The post is now held by Maddy Graves who isn't seeking re-election.

Stalk also is fighting his removal from the ballot, questioning a state law that requires 1998 candidates to be a member of a particular party at least since Sept. 1, 1997. He said it shouldn't apply in nonpartisan contests.

But the attorney general's office says the law doesn't distinguish between partisan and nonpartisan races, and any change to the law would have to be made by the 1999 Legislature.

Stalk has found an ally in Clark County Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson, who says taking his name off the ballot at this point would go against the intent of Nevada election law and cause problems for her office.

About 600 ballots for out-of-state Clark County residents, including students and military personnel, are being mailed out this week, Ferguson noted. Her office also has printed the nonpartisan pages of 132,648 sample ballots.

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