Muth: Why I Support Judge Almase’s Re-Election

(Chuck Muth) – As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I met with incumbent Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Heidi Almase and am personally supporting her in the District 3 general election on June 13th.

Among the reasons…

1.)  As my own attorney put it, we shouldn’t kick good judges off the bench simply because somebody else wants to sit in their seat.  And by all accounts, Judge Almase has been a good, competent judge.

2.)  Judge Almase’s opponent, Cara Campbell, works for the Clark County district attorney’s office.  Her court experience is limited to Clark County.  She has no experience whatsoever in Las Vegas municipal court.

On the other hand, Judge Almase has argued in every court in the state – including the Nevada Supreme Court, the Federal District Court for Nevada, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

3.)  Prior to becoming a judge, Ms. Almase owned her own private law practice.  I like the idea that a judge has experience in the real business world and not just as a government employee.

4.)  Ms. Campbell has no experience in mental health and substance abuse – two subjects that come up often at the muni court level.

Judge Almasi, on the other hand, has six years experience running both of those diversion courts and overseeing a $1/4-million budget.  She also has two degrees in mental health.

5.)  And lastly, I’ve become very disenchanted with the notion of electing “Glamour Shots” candidates in judicial races…

Indeed, over the last 15-20 years of judicial candidates putting their professional modeling shots (some clearly photo-shopped) on their street signs, some of the most attractive chicks have turned out to be some of our worst judges.

Being a judge should be about more than just a pretty face.

Bottom Line: Judge Almase is a solid, competent, qualified, experienced municipal court judge.  There’s simply no reason whatsoever to replace her…other than Ms. Campbell’s ambition.

Judge Almase has earned re-election.

P.S.  This is a PERSONAL endorsement and is completely unrelated to any organization or group I may be affiliated with, including this publication.