As an officer of the court who specializes in “election law and government ethics”
(with a personal injury practice as a side business), you would think
my opponent in the Republican primary race for lieutenant governor, Mark
Hutchison, would not only be intimately familiar with the laws that
apply to public figures, but would conduct his public affairs in a
highly ethical manner that was above reproach.
And you would be wrong.
Although
not reported widely by the media, Mr. Hutchison has had numerous
run-ins with Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS), as well as simple, common
sense ethical standards. Indeed, rather than conduct his public affairs
above reproach, Mr. Hutchison has often operated more as if he was
above the law.
1.) In January of
2004, Mr. Hutchison was appointed to, ironically enough, the Nevada
Commission on Ethics. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered the
appointment was not legal. NRS limits the number of Republicans and
Democrats who can serve on the Commission, and Mr. Hutchison’s
appointment exceeded the legally allowable number of Republicans.
But
rather than resign from the position and wait for an appropriate
vacancy that would allow for a legal appointment, Mr. Hutchison
cavalierly just quit the Republican Party and cynically joined the
Independent American Party until a GOP vacancy allowed him to switch
back.
That party change made his
appointment to the Ethics commission illegal under another state law.
His entire first term on the Ethics Commission is questionable and all
the decisions he participated in could be overturned in court because of
his actions.
Even if this party
registration Kabuki dance is judged to have been technically legal after
the fact, the undeniable fact remains that the politically ambitious
Mr. Hutchison was simply NOT legally eligible for the appointment at the
time the appointment was made and, ethically, should have resigned.
That he didn’t was an early warning sign that Mark Hutchison believes the law should apply to others, but not him.
2.)
In 2010, Mr. Hutchison decided to try to cash in politically on his
unsuccessful yet high-profile involvement with a lawsuit challenging
ObamaCare (he was against it before he was for it).
During
that campaign, his own law firm – the one that employs a half-dozen
attorneys handling personal injury lawsuits – broke Nevada campaign
finance law by contributing more money than is legally allowed. That’s a
pretty egregious violation by someone who describes himself as an
expert in election law.
3.) In
2013, Mr. Hutchison took advantage of his position as a state legislator
and accepted an expense-paid trip to Israel. There was nothing illegal
about the trip itself; however, since his expenses of $11,100.26 were
paid for by a private organization, the state senator and self-professed
election law expert was required to report the trip on his annual
Financial Disclosure Statement.
He didn’t.
4.)
All attorneys who serve in the Legislature – including personal injury
attorneys – are required to disclose annually the names of any clients
the legislator represents before any state boards of commissions. This
is to ensure public transparency for Nevada’s citizens and avoid
troubling conflicts of interest.
On
this year’s disclosure report Mr. Hutchison not only refused to disclose
the name of an individual he admits he represented before, of all
boards, the state Ethics Commission – the board he not only illegally
served on a decade earlier, but chaired for a time – but also refused to
disclose, as required by law, the “nature of the representation.”
Instead, Mr. Hutchison wrote in “Confidential,” completely ignoring both the letter and intent of existing state law.
5.)
The Boy Scouts of America is a wonderful organization. But its
founder was rightly concerned about self-serving politicians who might
try to use the organization for political gain. Thus, the organization
is VERY clear on the rules regarding the separation of Scouts and
candidates:
Just
before early voting started in this year’s campaign, candidate
Hutchison sent out a mailer prominently featuring…you guessed it…a
photograph of him in his Scout uniform.
Apparently, it’s not just the election laws of the state of Nevada that Mark Hutchison doesn’t believe apply to him. Indeed, he won’t even honor the rules of the Boy Scouts of America if he thinks it will advance his political career.
For
an attorney who supposedly specializes in election law and government
ethics to be so disdainful of election laws and government ethics
probably isn’t all that surprising when one considers just how
deceptive, misleading and outright dishonest his campaign for lieutenant
governor has been.
But do
Nevada’s citizens really want a lieutenant governor who believes he’s
above the law and that the rules apply to everyone else but him?
Paid for and authorized by Sue Lowden for Lieutenant Governor
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