Silly season gets off to a rousing start

Some call it the "silly season," and it is upon us in full swing after the closing Friday of the filing period for candidacy in Nevada's upcoming elections.

There will be plenty of time for serious discussion of candidates and issues, but already there is some prime silliness to consider for the 2004 election season.

At the top of the list has to be the filing of Sharon Shaffer, a Democrat, to run in State Senate District 1 against the Republican incumbent - her husband, Ray.

There's method in their madness, though. Sharon Shaffer will have a primary contest against perennial candidate Mike Schaefer. So to clear up any confusion (!), the Shaffers are hoping to eliminate a Schaefer in the preliminary round.

Also in Las Vegas, Chester Richardson sent a proxy to file for him in a Clark County commissioner race. He couldn't make it himself, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, because Richardson spent most of Friday at the North Las Vegas Detention Center, where he had been in jail since Tuesday on traffic tickets.

Then there was Jack Lund Schofield Jr., who tried to file as a candidate for Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani's seat, but didn't bring the $100 filing fee.

Although Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax gave him 20 minutes to call around for the funds, there apparently were no takers.

Over at the Independent American Party, which is always good for some controversy, candidate Brad Barnhill went to court over a refusal to list his birth date.

"He claims he has no first-hand knowledge of his birth," Lomax told the Review-Journal after a District Court hearing. "He said he had to rely on the woman who claims to be his mother."

Barnhill lost the argument.

While there may not have been the same level of silliness in Northern Nevada, the main head-scratcher was the filing of Steve Weissinger for the Douglas County commissioner seat he resigned six months ago after pleading no contest to an embezzlement charge. Weissinger figures to let the voters decide, and so they must.

Stay tuned. It's just getting started.