RENO -- Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice James Hardesty, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Washoe District Judge Brent Adams are among the names surfacing as possible replacements for U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval.
Sandoval announced his resignation last week and is believed to be considering challenging Gov. Jim Gibbons in a Republican primary next year.
Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have not said whom they might be considering to recommend for the post to President Barack Obama, who will appoint someone to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
But historically nominees to the U.S. District Court in Reno have come from Northern Nevada, which makes Hardesty and Adams -- both Democrats -- contenders for the job, said Carl Tobias, a former UNLV law professor now teaching at the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia.
"Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, is effective and popular," Tobias said. "But she may be wanting to do other things than serve on the bench."
Tobias said federal magistrates often are appointed judges and at least two have experience that would make them qualified -- Valerie Cooke, a Democrat, and Robert McQuaid, a Republican.
Or, Obama might break from the norm and look toward plaintiff lawyers or public defenders, Tobias said. If that's the case, Vito de la Cruz, an assistant federal public defender who is half American Indian and half Hispanic, would make an interesting candidate, he said.
"There is only one Native American on the entire federal bench," Tobias said. "That would be a historic appointment."
Richard Siegel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, and president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, agreed that Adams, Hardesty and de la Cruz would be attractive options, but said Reid tends to make more conservative picks.
"Vito would be a brilliant choice," Siegel said. "And Brent Adams and Jim Hardesty would be pretty obviously highly qualified people, and have very widespread respect.
"But all of them would be a little less center-right and more to the center than the majority of those who have been appointed by Harry Reid in the past," Siegel said.
Siegel said Reid tends to suggest people with whom he has had a personal relationship, rather than those who are qualified but not politically connected.
"I would be tracking the people who Harry Reid has worked with closely in his campaign," Siegel said. "Harry Reid is very into loyalty and that kind of political linkage. He has had opportunities to look for highly qualified Democrats in the past, but he didn't go there."
Bob Fulkerson, director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said Washoe District Family Court Judge Frances Doherty also should be in the mix.
"Judge Doherty has demonstrated her commitment to everyday people," Fulkerson said.
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