A judge said he didn't consider it a conflict when he ruled on procedures for Nevada's special election for an open congressional seat, even though he co-owns a small mining claim with a top contender in the race.
District Judge James Russell holds the $500 claim with Republican Mark Amodei. Russell didn't reveal the relationship before he ruled May 19 that Nevada's political parties should nominate their own candidates for the Sept. 13 election.
Russell's opinion was later upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court in a ruling that cleared 14 other GOP contenders from the field.
Amodei, Russell's previous law partner and former chairman of the state Republican Party, received his party's endorsement to appear on the ballot.
On Friday, state Treasurer Kate Marshall, the Democratic nominee, told the Las Vegas Sun it was inappropriate for Russell not to disclose the relationship with Amodei.
"Certainly a judicial commission would probably end up looking at that," Marshall said.
A crowded ballot could have split the GOP vote, giving Democrats a chance to claim the 2nd Congressional District seat for the first time since it was created in 1982. The seat was formerly held by Republican Dean Heller, who was appointed in May to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Russell told a Reno newspaper in an earlier story that he didn't disclose the mining claim because Amodei had not yet filed for office and Amodei wasn't a party to the lawsuit.
"First of all, who knew if Mark was running or not running?" Russell said of the May 19 ruling. "I hadn't talked to Mark Amodei in over a year. And more important than anything, he was not part of the action (of the lawsuit). Secondly, we go by the parties who are in the action."
Amodei, however, had declared his candidacy 10 days before the hearing during a news conference that was covered by all large state media outlets. He was also party chairman at the time the state GOP filed the lawsuit challenging rules set up by Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller to allow a come-one, come-all ballot.
A national law expert said Russell's explanation could be a concern for some observers.
"I think the judge's explanation holds up for me: Who was a declared candidate, who wasn't and the timing," said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and a founding faculty member of the Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas. "I am not terribly troubled by it, but I could see where some people could say, how could he have not figured that out?"
Russell later disclosed the mining claim with Amodei at a July court hearing on Nevada's redistricting issue. He said he brought up the issue then because Amodei had officially filed for office.
"I did raise it the last time because he now was a candidate, a declared, filed candidate, and we had to consider it," Russell said.
Russell and Amodei have owned the inactive mining claim for 10 years, according to Storey County tax records.
Russell said he never thought his co-ownership of a $500 mining claim would become an issue.
"I'm not sure that owning 50 percent of a $500 mining claim is a real conflict," Russell said. "Anyway, it is the perception as much as anything. And again, I recall rendering the decision on the 19th, and I don't think it was an issue raised by anybody. If it had been, we certainly would have considered it."
