Letter: Partisan vote is wrong way to pick candidate

Bob Thomas' reasoning in his column of Oct. 5, "Sometimes a partisan vote is overriding concern," is badly flawed. He suggests voting for a relatively unknown quantity for District 40, a Republican, instead of the competent (by his own admission) and very well known quantity, Bonnie Parnell, a Democrat.

Mr. Thomas reasons that the Republicans want the Assembly, and therefore suggests that voters take out a very effective legislator because she is a Democrat. Wrong. If voters start voting partisan ballots, irrespective of the quality of the candidates, our democracy will be in serious trouble.

I have known both Bonnie Parnell (the District 40 incumbent) and Jeanne Simons - the Republican candidate touted by Thomas - for a good many years. Bonnie Parnell has spent years serving the community, especially children, and she has been recognized as an outstanding teacher in Carson City. She has been dedicated to serving her constituents, and has by all accounts been a fiercely independent and outstanding legislator.

Jeanne Simons, on the other hand, is mostly known for vitriolic attacks on the public schools, for her association with fringe groups and for her tendency to not have all of the facts at her disposal. That she is a Republican is irrelevant. That she is not in the same league with Bonnie Parnell should be the compelling reason not to vote for Jeanne Simons.

I would argue that we should never let partisan considerations get in the way of voting for the most competent candidate. Bonnie Parnell is a proven candidate, regardless of her political designation.

EUGENE T. PASLOV

Former Superintendent of Public Instruction

Carson City