CARSON CITY -- Political newcomer Brian Krolicki defeated former state Treasurer Ken Santor in the GOP primary election Tuesday and appears to be a cinch to win the treasurer's job in November.
Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, seeking a third term, and state Sen. Kathy Augustine, who is running for controller, both rolled to easy victories over token opponents to win their party nominations.
After a campaign that heated up at the end, Krolicki, 37, of Douglas County ran strong in Clark and Washoe counties and in Carson City to overcome Santor who captured a number of counties in rural Nevada.
"This was our first time out, and our name identification wasn't great," said Krolicki who has been chief deputy to retiring state Treasurer Bob Seale for eight years. This is the first time Krolicki has run for elective office and his campaign, that cost $100,000, lasted one year.
Santor, who served four years as treasurer before losing to Seale in 1980, said, "Politics stinks."
Santor said his campaign was "really hurt" when Krolicki ran advertisements that the Nevada Supreme Court had ruled he was guilty of fraud in a 1982 civil case.
Santor spent about $4,000 in the race. He asked the state Ethics Committee to find Krolicki guilty of misleading advertisement. But the committee ruled Krolicki had not violated any ethical standards.
Krolicki said the Santor complaint with the ethics commission "only highlighted his poor ethical conduct in the past."
Since no Democrat filed for the office, Krolicki only faces candidates from two splinter parties in the general election -- Daniel Fylstra, a Libertarian from Incline Village and Merritt "Ike" Yochum, an Independent American from Carson City.
Del Papa, 50, rolled over Marilyn O'Connor, a legal researcher who did not spend a dime on the campaign for the Democratic nomination. Del Papa gathered more than 75 percent of the vote.
She now faces former Assemblyman Scott Scherer, a Las Vegas attorney, who said, "I'm certainly behind at this point, but that's as we expected."
Del Papa is not taking her big lead in polls over Scherer, a Republican, for granted. "I'm running as this is the race of my life. I'm up against a well qualified and well financed opponent."
Del Papa, according to Scherer, has come up short in processing cases of people on death row and in protecting the public from telemarketing, insurance and securities frauds.
The attorney general disputes those allegations, saying her office has been nationally recognized for reforms on prison inmate litigation. She said, "The criticism of consumer protection will not stand."
Others in the attorney general's race are Libertarian H. Kent Cromwell of Reno and Independent American Joel F. Hansen of Las Vegas.
Augustine of Las Vegas defeated Wally Earhart of Carson City for the GOP nomination and the right to succeed retiring Controller Darrel Daines by piling up close to 60 percent of the vote.
Augustine, who has served both in the Assembly and the Senate, meets Democrat Mary Sanada of Reno, a former employee of the controller's office who ran unsuccessfully for the post four years ago.
It will mean that the first female will be elected to the controller's office in the state's history.
Both candidates agree the issue is experience. Augustine says she has the administrative background to run the office. Daines and his assistant Ken West, she said, are not certified public accountants and the office has progressed. She has the knowledge of serving in the Legislature also.
Sanada, a CPA, says a major private company "would never hire her (Augustine) with her qualifications to be controller. They want somebody with background." She said, "I strongly believe the state is not well served by an 'administrator' in this office."
Independent Amer-i-can Thomas Jefferson of Elko and Libertarian Jim Lee of Pahrump are in general election for controller.
Secretary of State Dean Heller, did not gain any opposition in the Republican primary election, and no Democrat filed for the office.
Heller, seeking a second term, goes against Natural Law candidate Lois Avery of Sparks; Libertarian Robert Brost of Incline Village and Independent American Mary Dickens of Carson City in the general election.
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