LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Around 25 Clark County candidates embraced a unique option that can only be found on the ballots of ten states, including Nevada, but one race is calling attention to the impact of using a nickname during an election.
Madilyn Cole, a Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney and candidate for Justice Court Dept. 5, said her name on the ballot is significant to her and explained why she wrote “Leavitt” in as a nickname.
“Leavitt is a family name,” Cole said. “My grandfather and grandmother are Myron and Shirley Leavitt. My mom is Michelle Leavitt, and I am so proud to be a Leavitt.”
Myron is a role model to Cole, who noted her grandfather’s work as a Nevada Supreme Court justice, district court judge, lieutenant governor, county commissioner, and city councilman.
“He dedicated his career to this community and made significant contributions not only to just Las Vegas but the state of Nevada,” she said. “And my mother has been my biggest role model and example.”
Cole noted she was raised by a single mom who instilled in her the values she hopes to bring to the office she seeks and felt it important to represent her family, who inspired her.
“I feel so proud to come from the incredible family that I do,” she said. “It’s a way for me to honor that legacy and their contributions to the state of Nevada.”
Nevada state law allows candidates to use a nickname on the ballot under certain restrictions. Nicknames, which appear on the ballot in quotation marks, cannot 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, according to the state law.
Although Cole was permitted to use her family’s name, her opponent for Justice Court Dept. 5, Judge Cynthia Cruz, said she wants to ensure Cole follows the law.
“I think it’s trying to run on somebody else’s credibility,” Cruz said. “I think that it is not resting on somebody’s experience or laurels. It’s running on, ‘Hey, here’s this name that might get me favor, based upon how the community may know that name.’”
Cruz conceded that the nickname statute benefits candidates and officials who choose to be known by their preferred name.
“I think the easiest way to connect with this is Commissioner Tick Segerblom,” she said. “People know him as ‘Tick’, but his legal name is Richard.”
While considering re-election, Cruz said she considered her full name, Dustin-Cruz, too much for her spot on the ballot but was required under law to run her full legal name.
“I’m not trying to deceive a voter,” Cruz said. “I’m trying to make sure that I’m following the law.”
Cruz said she thinks it’s time for legislators to look at how nicknames are used on the Nevada ballot and alleged some candidates may be using the statute to get an advantage.
“I think it might be, at this point, be utilized in a way to get a little bit more ‘oomph,’” she said. “As opposed to maintaining certain levels of voter confidence and voter trust that they that they truly do know whom they’re voting for and the background of the person that they’re voting for, and not just a slogan or a nickname.”
8 News Now reached out to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office regarding who decides to use nicknames on the ballot and details about the approval process, but the office has not yet responded to requests for comment.
