Madilyn “Leavitt” Cole is challenging Justice of the Peace Cynthia Dustin-Cruz.
Madilyn “Leavitt” Cole, a prosecutor in the Clark County District Attorney’s office, is defending her decision to use a political endorsement on a campaign mailer, despite a prohibition on judges and judicial candidates seeking, accepting, or using endorsements from a political organization in campaign materials.
Cole, who received her undergraduate and law degrees at Brigham Young University, served as a law clerk in 2017, and joined the District Attorney’s office in 2018. She is seeking to oust Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Cynthia Dustin-Cruz from the seat she’s held since 2012. Dustin-Cruz attended UNLV and earned her Juris Doctorate from Boyd School of Law.
The mailer, which features a photo of Cole, her husband, and baby, includes an endorsement from the Nevada Republican Club Action PAC (NRC PAC).
Cole, who declined to be interviewed, said in an emailed statement to the Current the mailer-related complaints filed by Veterans in Politics with the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission and the Nevada Bar Association, are “frivolous and without merit.”
“The endorsement referenced is not a political organization as defined in the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 4, as its principal purpose is not to further the election or appointment of candidates for political office,” Cole said in an email.
The NRC PAC’s purpose, according to its filing with the Secretary of State, is “to support, recommend and elect competent and qualified Conservative candidates for public office.”
Additionally, the Judicial Code defines “political organization” as “a political party or other group sponsored by or affiliated with a political party or candidate, the principal purpose of which is to further the election or appointment of candidates for political office.”
What’s in a name?
The “Leavitt” in Cole’s name is a new addition – an homage to her mother, District Judge Michelle Leavitt’s maiden name, and her grandfather, former Judge Myron Leavitt – as well as a reminder to voters of her judicial lineage.
Cole’s resume lists her name as Madilyn Fitzpatrick Cole.
Nevada law says a “nickname of not more than 10 letters may be incorporated into the name of a candidate” and must be in quotation marks. “A nickname must not indicate any political, economic, social or religious view or affiliation and must not be the name of any person, living or dead, whose reputation is known on a statewide, nationwide or worldwide basis, or in any other manner deceive a voter regarding the person or principles for which he or she is voting.”
The statute is “meant to be for people like (Clark County Commissioner) Tick Segerblom. He’s a perfect example. No one knows Tick by any other name. No one knows him by Richard,” says Dustin-Cruz. “I think as a judicial candidate and as a judicial officer it’s important to be transparent and not do anything that would be confusing or interpretive.”
Much ado about nothing?
Cole is suggesting to news media that Dustin-Cruz recently resigned as chief judge because of opposition by Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, District Attorney Steve Wolfson, and the Nevada Resort Association to Justice Court’s decision to distribute criminal cases involving the resort corridor among eight departments rather than two, as is the current practice.
“I think [in large part] that’s due to a strong lack in leadership,” Cole told KLAS-TV. “I think that is confirmed by the recent resignation.”
Dustin-Cruz says that’s not the case, and credits her opponent for publicizing what she says is an unremarkable decision.
“This is not the first time, and possibly not the last time that a chief judge elects to step down early, a week before we voted to elect the next incoming chief judge,” Cruz said during an interview Wednesday.
“I still have a significant amount on my plate, but had even more on my plate presiding over my drug treatment court, a variety of statewide and community committees that I sit on, and a full campaign,” she said, adding that with the administrative duties of chief judge, she was working seven days a week. “My focus is being pulled more than I’m really liking it to be. It’s never an easy call, but it’s important to know as a public servant when you have too many balls in the air.”
The Resort Corridor Court was designed to reduce crime on the Las Vegas Strip committed by repeat offenders ordered out of the area on trespassing charges. Civil libertarians contend the “order-out” provisions raise legal concerns about profiling and other rights.
Dustin-Cruz says the Justices of the Peace had “a lot of concerns” about the Resort Corridor Court.
“Maybe you are unhoused and hanging out on the Strip. That’s not necessarily a crime, but these are the people that could benefit from being connected to services so they don’t have to be unhoused anymore,” she says, adding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reports 80% of homeless people have a substance abuse disorder, mental health issues, or both. “It’s a revolving door at the jail, and that’s not solving crime. It’s temporarily stopping that person for a day or a few hours. We work on the reason they keep ending up in jail.”
Dustin-Cruz says a letter of protest to the Justices of the Peace from McMahill, Wolfson, and the Resort Association, “was a cry to come back to the table and have some more discussion, because reports from Metro indicate crime was diminishing. We want to make sure that we’re following the Constitution, that we’re not turning this into a situation where we’re letting one group push the court to move in a direction,” she said. “Even though it was intended to be a way to identify certain repeat offenders and connect them with resources, the volume was much more than anybody anticipated.”
Dustin-Cruz raised $61,000 in campaign contributions as of July 15 and had $22,000 on hand. She is endorsed by a variety of law enforcement agencies, unions (including SEIU and Laborers’ 872), the National Organization for Women, Hispanics in Politics, the Asian American Group, the African Chamber of Commerce, and the Adult Residential Care Providers of Nevada.
Cole raised just over $140,000 as of July 15 and had about $82,000 on hand. She is endorsed by the Latin Chamber of Commerce, a number of unions, including Culinary Local 226, Teamsters, AFL-CIO of Nevada and Laborers’ 872 (which endorsed both candidates), and Clark County prosecutor and investigator associations.
Early voting begins Oct. 19.