Dem
51
GOP
49
This item is a little bit inside baseball, even for us, and we probably wouldn't write about it if not for the fact that it is directly related to an item we ran yesterday. That item talked about how Nevada Democratic Party chair Judith Whitmer is facing an uphill battle as she tries to hold on to her job in this weekend's leadership elections. And, as reader D.R. in Slippery Rock, PA, brings to our attention, the hill just got a little steeper.
Whitmer, as it turns out, has a criminal record. Under the name Judith Sprayberry, back in the 1990s—which is to say, more than a quarter-century ago—she forged some checks under her employer's name. And when the activity was discovered, she agreed to plead nolo contendre to a felony charge of grand theft between $750 and $5,000. That means that Whitmer did not admit guilt, but that she is nonetheless a convicted felon.
There's a pretty strong argument to be made that this shouldn't be held against Whitmer. Nearly three decades is a long time, and she paid her debt to society. Further, the amount of money she apparently pocketed is relatively small potatoes. All of this said, whether the people who will vote in this weekend's election should care doesn't matter. What does matter is whether they will care. And this kind of skeleton-from-the-closet certainly isn't going to help someone who was already flailing.
Meanwhile, we are disinclined to believe this story just happened to come to light right now, a couple of days before the leadership contest. Either the outlet that reported it (a local TV station) sat on it in search of maximum exposure, or someone who is unfriendly to Whitmer leaked it at the moment they felt was most timely. Either way, it feels a bit sleazy, even by the rough-and-tumble standards of Nevada politics. (Z)