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A series of politically charged mailers in the Mesquite mayoral race and Las Vegas City Council Ward I election last March was funded by money from the gambling sector, claims an Ohio political operative who was working until recently in Nevada.
Dave Gallagher, a Republican Party member now living in Cincinnati, was not involved in the mailers but was personally acquainted with the people behind the Nevada Policy Group. it was formed by two Republican activists, Yale Cunningham and Jackie Kaiser. They were hired as freelancers during the 2006 election cycle by Ryan Erwin & Associates.
The Nevada Policy Group sent thousands of voters in each race mailers that depicted Mesquite Mayor Bill Nicholes and Ward 1 candidate Laurie Bisch in a harsh light.
Gallagher, at the time, was working on Mesquite City Council candidate Randy Ence's campaign. Erwin's firm referred that job to Gallagher after Black Gaming Government Affairs Director Grant Hewitt asked Erwin for an operative to work on Ence's campaign literature, said Hewitt. Black Gaming ended up paying for the work, he added.
"I never worked for Nevada Policy Group," Gallagher said, "From what I know it was all private-sector gaming money (that funded it), nothing from any party or candidate." Gallagher says he learned this because the various political operatives were often working side by side and routinely bumped into each other.
Hewitt has denied that any money from Black Gaming was used to fund Nevada Policy Group. Robert "Randy" Black refused multiple requests for comment.
Hewitt, a Republican' political operative from Texas, was hired by Black late last ear. He says his involvement with Nevada Policy Group extended only to helping Kaiser and Cunningham set up meetings with...