Judge's son hopes to make name for himself

Clark County Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski has found himself spending half his time telling voters about himself and the other half talking about who is opponent is, and more importantly who he isn't.

Zadrowski is running against former Clark County Deputy District Attorney Joe Bonaventure for the newly created Department 9 Justice of the Peace seat, but Zadrowski says he is also running against the Bonaventure name shared by his opponent's father, District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

"In the primary I touted my experience, but now I'm spending just as much time making sure that voters know who my opponent is," Zadrowski said. "I still knock on doors and people think I'm running against the judge in the Binion trial and not his son."

Bonaventure is the subject of complaint to state attorney general's office alleging that he has failed to adequately differentiate himself from his father on his campaign Web site.

"I don't really know anything about the complaint, but I'm not concerned about it," Bonaventure said. "It's nonsense. I've got name recognition, and some people find that disheartening.

"All I'm doing is using my name."

Both Bonaventure and Zadrowski say they don't think the complaint will play any significant role in the election, but Zadrowski did say he wished that his opponent would be more forthcoming in his campaign literature about who he is.

Bonaventure's Web site does not include a picture of the 28-year-old, who graduated from the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV in 2001.

The Web site does contain a listing of Bonaventure's educational background including the fact that he graduated in 2001, long after his older father graduated from law school out of state.

"I'm not a junior and I can't change that," Bonaventure said. "My Web site shows I graduated from UNLV and that I'm a native Nevadan, and that should tell people I'm not my father."

Tom Sargent, a spokesman for Attorney General Brian Sandoval, said that his office has received the complaint against Bonaventure, filed by former Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Miller.

Miller has previously filed a complaint against Bonaventure's father, alleging that District Judge Joseph Bonaventure took sides in the Ted Binion murder case by signing copies of a true crime book chronicling the case. The book, "Murder in Sin City," was written by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jeff German.

Sargent said he could not comment on the allegations in the complaint filed against Joe Bonaventure, but said he would expect it to be reviewed before the general election.

In last month's primary Bonaventure grabbed 43.8 percent of the vote, while Zadrowski, 38, finished second with 13 percent.

The candidates agreed on the main issue, saying that improving the court's efficiency to reduce backlogged cases is most important.

The cap on civil cases filed in Justice Court is to increase from $7,500 to $10,000 next year, which means the amount of civil filing will increase.

Bonaventure is an alumnus of the charter class of the Boyd School of Law, and was a prosecutor in the Clark County criminal division for 14 months. He entered private practice earlier this year and works at Bonaventure & Goldstein.

He said he would bring fairness, efficiency and consistency to the bench.

Zadrowski points to his experience in prosecuting hundreds of cases in Justice Court, including murders, robberies, sexual assaults and property crimes. He is a graduate of the University of Denver College of Law.

He also works at the Community College of Southern Nevada as an adjunct professor of criminal law, where he has taught criminal and juvenile law for six years.

He said he has the obvious edge in experience over Bonaventure, and hopes that voters will look past his opponent's well-known last name.

Zadrowski's campaign committee sent out a campaign mailer that points out the difference between the the two Bonaventure's.

The black-and-white postcard has a picture of Joseph Bonaventure. The photo is captioned "Judge Joe," and text next to the photo reads: This is respected Judge Joe Bonaventure. he has experience, but he is not a candidate."

Next to that photo is another, a less-than-flattering photo of Justice of the Peace candidate Joe Bonaventure, captioned "Little Joe."

"This is Little Joe Bonaventure," the card notes. "He has very little experience, but he is a candidate. With only 24 months as a lawyer, he is too inexperienced to be a real judge. Don't be confused!!"

Zadrowski's campaign is also running television commercials that attempt to eliminate possible confusion about which Bonaventure is running.

Many of the TV spots run on Las Vegas ONE when the cable-only news channel is broadcasting the Ted Binion murder retrial, presided over by Joseph Bonaventure.

Bonaventure has been endorsed by the Southern Nevada Central Labor, Station Casinos, Culinary Local 226 and Nevada State AFL-CIO.

Zadrowski is endorsed by the Metro Police supervisors and officers union, Nevada Concerned Citizens, the Nevada Highway Patrol Association and all the other candidates for the new judgship who lost in the primary.

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