As we approach another election for Clark County sheriff, I wanted to share some of the history of our sheriff’s races with those of you who were not around for the past elections, along with LVPPA’s endorsements in those races.

I’ll take you all back to the beginning of my career, when then-Sheriff Jerry Keller was an easy choice for the membership to support. Fast forward to when Bill Young was running for sheriff in 2002; it was a little bit closer, with Young beating Randy Oaks by 30,000 votes.

In 2006, Young was given a letter of endorsement from the LVPPA and its membership, but when he decided not to run for re-election, the membership was given a choice to support Doug Gillespie or Bill Conger.

Per the LVPPA Bylaws, the vote of the membership would only be considered if at least 50% of the membership took part in voting. The ballots that were returned did not reach the required number of membership votes, so the Board of Directors met and decided that it would endorse Gillespie over Conger. Needless to say, a lot of the members were pissed off that their vote didn’t count.

Gillespie went on to beat Jerry Airola in the 2006 election, and then won his re-election in 2010 against Laurie Bisch.

In 2014, Larry Burns announced his plan to run for sheriff against Joe Lombardo. The LVPPA notified the members that if at least 50% of them did not vote, then the Board of Directors would make the decision on who to endorse.

This endorsement vote returned just over 65% of the ballots from the membership to endorse Burns for sheriff.

Lombardo went on to beat Burns in the general election and became Clark County sheriff.

In 2018, Lombardo was endorsed by the LVPPA and the Public Safety Alliance of Nevada (PSAN) and was re-elected to the office of sheriff.

The LVPPA decided that every vote should count even if the percentage didn’t reach the 50% that the Bylaws required, so the Board requested a Bylaw change. So now, no matter how many officers vote, the majority who take part in voting will decide who we endorse.

In this upcoming election, we already know that former Undersheriff Kevin McMahill is running for sheriff and that former Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts is his competition, so when the voting starts, please cast your vote for whoever you think should lead our Department.

Please be safe, and thank you for your membership.