Carpenters’ Union debunks Martin claims about Daskas

LAS VEGAS- Andrew Martin's congressional campaign continued its attempts to take down Robert Daskas this weekend with a new press release titled "ANDREW MARTIN IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE WHO CAN DEFEAT JON PORTER."  The people mentioned in the release question its accuracy, however.

The harshly worded release alleges that Daskas, the Democrat in the race who has received the support of much of Nevada's Democratic establishment, is "beholden to the Washington DC special interests" and makes disparaging claims about Daskas' performance at a Carpenters' Union endorsement meeting more than a week ago.

"In a recent meeting with the Carpenters Union, Mr. Daskas arrived over 20 minutes late and continued to ask his campaign manager for answers, question after question, during the endorsement meeting," said Martin spokesperson Vin Gopal in the release.  "If Mr. Daskas does not have the knowledge to answer questions in an endorsement meeting, how will he be able to go toe to toe with Mr. Porter during a debate?"

The Carpenters' Union's Nevada political director, Jim Sala, took issue with that characterization of Daskas' performance today, describing that portion of Martin's press release as "funny" and giving a quite different version of the events.

"The only question that I can remember Daskas looking over to his campaign manager to ask-I mean, he gave us an answer, but asked for a completed answer-was in regards to who had endorsed him prior," said Sala.  "It was the only time that he looked over at his campaign manager, who did not sit at the same table with him.  Andrew Martin had his campaign manager, Becky Isais, actually sit at the table with him.  He looked at Becky and referred to Becky more times than Daskas did Heather [Urban, Daskas' campaign manager]."

"I guess the reason he knew that Daskas was running late was because after his interview, instead of leaving he hung out and when we left with Porter and were looking to bring Daskas in, they were still hanging out in the parking lot, so I'm not quite sure what was going on there."

"Daskas didn't get a chance to watch the trade video and he didn't get a chance to review the questionnaire, but he answered every question quite well, our committee thought."

According to Gopal, "not a single part of [Sala]'s version is accurate."

Sala said he expects the carpenters to come to an endorsement decision in "about a week."

Referring to the other portion of Martin's press release today, Gopal backed off the assertion that only Martin could beat Porter in the fall, but reiterated his view that Daskas is the "establishment" candidate.

"[Daskas] has very strong ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whom polls have shown is not too popular in the state," said Gopal.  "There are a lot of questions that are going to be used against Daskas in the general election.  He's going to be tied to this Nevada political machine and that will raise questions about his electability."

Gopal repeated Martin's complaint that his numerous attempts to contact the DCCC and Reid have gone unanswered.

"[Martin] wants to talk to somebody about this process and how blatantly corrupt it is.  Because he doesn't have direct ties to the political machine, he wasn't considered.  They have a responsibility to at least sit down with him and have a meeting.  They've just ignored this guy.  You've got to be in this little sect of political insiders, and the establishment/machine.  If you're outside that, if you're just a regular Democrat, you can't run."

Both the DCCC and Reid's office disagreed with that assessment today.

"It is ultimately up to the voters in Nevada's Third Congressional District to determine the Democratic nominee and we are very respectful of their preference," said DCCC press secretary Doug Thornell. "At this point, an objective observer must admit that Robert Daskas has substantially more support from people within the district and that is one of the reasons he is on the Red to Blue program."

"[Daskas] is far from an establishment candidate," said Reid press secretary Jon Summers.  "He's a native Nevadan, a career prosecutor who has a record of public service.  He's demonstrated his commitment to Nevada, he's from the district.  He's a logical choice to support."

Daskas' campaign declined to comment on-the-record for this article.