Judge facing election challenge calls Republican endorsement mailer ‘an oversight’

By Dana Gentry

Nevada Current

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Sciscento says a campaign mailer stating he is “Endorsed by the Republican Party” was a mistake made by his campaign management team or the printer contracted by his campaign. Sciscento, who has been on the bench for 15 years, faces a challenge from Clark County Chief Deputy Public Defender Kristal Bradford.

“I know that mailer went out and it was an oversight,” Sciscento said during an interview Wednesday, adding he has not seen a complaint filed by Veterans in Politics with the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission. “It got by. I don’t know how. But we pulled everything back, we made the changes, and that piece has been brought back with the change.”

Nevada Supreme Court rule 4.1, which addresses political campaign activities, prohibits a judge or judicial candidate from seeking, accepting, or using endorsements or publicly stated support from a political organization.

A similar endorsement appears on campaign materials for Madilyn “Leavitt” Cole, a Clark County prosecutor who is seeking to oust Justice of the Peace Cynthia Dustin-Cruz. Veterans in Politics filed two complaints against Cole — one with the Judicial Discipline Commission and another with the State Bar of Nevada.

“We use the same printer, and the same campaign people,” Sciscento said of himself and Cole.

Cecia Alvarado of Latino Outreach Solutions, who manages Sciscento’s and Cole’s campaigns, said she was unaware of the complaints against her clients. She did not respond to requests for comment after the Current provided copies of the complaints.

“You don’t want a judge who’s saying “Well, I’m backed by the Republican Party’ or ‘I’m backed by the Democrat Party,’” says Bradford, Sciscento’s opponent. “He broke a judicial canon. He violated the law. Judges are supposed to follow the law. That is the bare minimum. And if you can’t follow the law in a judicial race, which is only a few months, how can we expect you to follow the law for six years?”

The aura of partisanship can sour the court experience, says Bradford.

“Sometimes we have community members arrested for protesting. You don’t want them to feel like, ‘Man, if I get in front of this judge, who I know is backed by the Republican Party, I’m going to be treated unfairly based on that, alone,’ or ‘I should wear a MAGA hat so I can get preferential treatment in front of this judge.’ That’s why our races are nonpartisan, because we don’t want to create the appearance of undue influence,” she says.

Bradford is unmoved by her opponent’s suggestion that the endorsement inclusion was an oversight. She says Sciscento or his campaign staff would have been provided a final copy to approve before printing.

“Red print on a blue background is not an oversight,” she said. “It was a risk for him, but he faces no consequences. No one has pulled endorsements, in fact, he’s received more since the mailer came out.”

Consequences for similar alleged transgressions did befall two candidates in 2022 when the Culinary Union rescinded its endorsement of then-Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum for appearing in a group photo with supporters of then-gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo, who went on to become governor. Hispanics in Politics rescinded its endorsement of Baucum, and justice of the peace candidate Danielle “Pieper” Chio.

Both candidates lost their races, however, Lombardo later appointed Chio to District Court.

Baucum is seeking another seat in Justice Court this year.

“Preserving the integrity of the judicial system is vital, and all candidates must be held to this standard,” read the complaints against Sciscento and Cole. “By featuring the endorsement of the Republican Party in his campaign materials, it suggests political party support, something voters want to keep out of judicial elections.”

Sciscento, who was appointed to Justice Court Dept. 2 in 2009, and elected three times since, won 42.6 percent of the vote in the primary election and Bradford won 31.3 percent.

Sciscento has been in Las Vegas since 1991. He worked with veteran attorney Dominic Gentile, former Judge Gene Porter, and former Judge Nancy Saitta.

“While on the bench. I’ve been among the highest rated judges in Justice Court,” he says. In 2019, the most recent Judging the Judges attorney survey published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sciscento had an 86 percent retention rate.

Bradford attended UCLA and Western State College of Law. She’s been the chief deputy public defender since 2018.

She says she decided to run against Sciscento because the two differ in many ways.

“I offer a different perspective,” she said in an interview earlier this month. “Me and Joseph are completely different — different walks of life, different genders, different nationalities, different races.”

Bradford says she gained civil law and prosecutorial experience in California, before moving to Las Vegas and becoming a public defender.

“I had my own firm and did civil litigation, but my very first internship was at the District Attorney’s office in Los Angeles,” she said. “So I don’t come from a purely defense background. When I go into court, I am representing the people that feel very unseen and unheard. That relates to most people — victim or defendant.”

She notes Justice Court is often a litigant’s first experience with the judicial system.

“They want it to be fair. They want it to be unbiased,” she says. “And because I have experienced courtrooms where I felt I was not treated fairly, I feel I can overcome that and make sure people who enter into my courtroom feel I treated them fairly, and most importantly, I followed the law.”

Sciscento raised $133,000 in campaign contributions as of July 15 and had $73,000 remaining.

Bradford raised $13,669 and spent all but about $600.

“Black women are statistically underfunded in campaigns, whether that’s a legislator or a judicial candidate,” Bradford said. “It’s not fun to fundraise, but I am very proud of what I have accomplished, I’m very humble and thankful for the people who have donated to me.”

Campaign contributions should not be the key to victory, she says — in a campaign or in court.

“You don’t want to think you’re going to lose because you’re up against an attorney who donated $5,000 every election to this judge,” she said, adding she’d prefer a series of public townhalls or debates among candidates, or a cap on fundraising.

Last month the Justice Court announced it plans to end the practice of consolidating cases involving alleged criminal violations that occur on the Las Vegas Strip in what’s become known as Resort Corridor Court. The justices of the peace voted to distribute the cases among eight judges.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, District Attorney Steve Wolfson, and the Nevada Resort Association voiced their displeasure in a letter to the court.

“Who better to decide on an individual’s needs and his/her fate than a judge who is familiar with the defendant’s history?” they wrote.

Sciscento declined to say whether he voted to discontinue the court, but noted “there’s some good consistency because you’ve got one or two judges that can manage those cases,” and added he expects the justices to reconsider, given the dissent from the Resort Association, Wolfson, and McMahill.

“I believe that it should be spread out evenly among all the justices,” says Bradford, who says the volume of cases can clog the assigned departments, and because consolidation invites resorts to support the judges who oversee Resort Corridor Court.

“There are certain casinos that only donate to the campaigns of those holding the corridor court,” she says. “If the cases are spread among everyone, the resorts can’t forum shop.”

Bradford is endorsed by the Progressive Leadership of Nevada Action Fund, the African Chamber of Commerce and Tourism PAC, and several unions.

Sciscento has the backing of Nevada NOW PAC, numerous law enforcement agencies and unions, including SEIU, which represents public employees, and Culinary Local 226.

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Dana Gentry is a native Las Vegan and award-winning investigative journalist. She is a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.