Outside Las Vegas, a political spat turns personal

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Over the weekend, we told you about a nasty fight in a rural county near Las Vegas that started when a local newspaper obtained emails in which the county assessor disparaged Latinos.

The ferocity with which some people in deep-red Nye County are pushing back against such comments shows how new and diverse residents are remaking the state’s political culture. In 2000, Nevada was three-quarters white. Now, minorities make up nearly half its population.

But the campaign to recall Republican Assessor Shirley Matson, who’s been abandoned by fellow GOP officeholders, is also a reminder of the deeply personal -– and sometimes vicious -– nature of local politics.

Stephanie Lopez, a homemaker who’s leading the recall effort, recently set up a tent to collect signatures outside Matson’s office in Pahrump, where most of the county’s residents live. In response, the Pahrump Valley Times reported, Matson tried to get the sheriff to run off Lopez and her allies. Matson also posted signs slamming Lopez and the newspaper, which has called for Matson’s resignation, until the county manager made her take them down.

A few days later, the paper reported, Lopez said Matson’s office sent her a letter demanding she declare all personal property related to her cleaning business. But Lopez said she doesn’t own -– and isn’t associated with -– any cleaning business. She considered the letter a scare tactic.

If the comments on the newspaper’s website are any indication, the public bickering has annoyed a number of residents. One person compared Lopez’s group to “little kids trying to egg on a fight in the school yard.” Another called Matson a “complete idiot.”

RELATED:

As it diversifies, Nevada shifts its tone

Tourists revisit the Cold War at Nevada test site

Homeland Security cancels immigration agreements with states

-- Ashley Powers in Las Vegas
twitter.com/ashleypowers