Meet the Candidate: Ozzie Fumo

Join Las Vegas DSA as we sit down with current Nevada Assembly District 21 representative, Ozzie Fumo, to talk about why his current race for Nevada Supreme Court is such an important one for Nevada and why leftist groups like DSA should support him. Ozzie Fumo will be joining us during our upcoming Poolside chat on Monday, August 17th @ 6:30pm!

Please register here → https://bit.ly/poolsidechat

“Neither where you come from, nor how much money you have, should ever prevent you from being treated equally under the law.”
– Ozzie Fumo

One of the most important election races in Nevada this November will be for an open seat on the Nevada Supreme Court. While many don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Nevada Supreme Court, the truth is that it is one of the most powerful institutions in our state. It has the power to declare what the law is across the whole state and to declare the winner in disputes between workers and employers, consumers and corporations, tenants and landlords, sick or injured people and insurance companies, prisoners and wardens, protesters and police, and prosecutors and the accused.

Ozzie Fumo is running against Douglas Herndon, a former career prosecutor and current judge known for asking a Black public defender to remove her Black Lives Matter button in his courtroom. Thankfully, Fumo is a progressive criminal defense attorney and former lawmaker who is backed by labor unions and against the death penalty. Ozzie Fumo needs the support of the progressive community to defeat Judge Herndon in this election and bring progressive values to our state’s highest court.

Herndon has made a career as a prosecutor putting human beings in cages, including falsely convicting one man, Fred Steese, of murder. Steese was confirmed to be innocent by evidence Herdon and the other prosecutor had in their files indicating Steese wasn’t even in the state at the time of the murder.

Ozzie Fumo is a first-generation American who has made a career fighting the carceral system in the courtroom and supporting progressive causes in the legislature. He has spearheaded bills to abolish the death penalty and limit the use of cash bail. He proposed legislation to establish as law automatic raises for teachers. He sponsored legislation designed to make jury pools better reflect the diversity of the community. He sponsored Harvey’s Law, requiring paratransit bus drivers to know CPR in order to protect their vulnerable passengers.

Fumo has nearly two decades of experience as a lawyer in Nevada, using his career to fight for the accused as a longtime public defender and criminal defense attorney. He has helped people seal their criminal records. He has received the State Bar of Nevada Pro Bono Advocate of the Year Award for providing free legal services to the poor and was named the 2019 Defender of the Year by the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice, a statewide organization of public defenders and criminal defense attorneys. Finally, Ozzie Fumo has been endorsed by too many labor organizations to list here, including the Culinary Workers Union 226, SEIU Nevada Local 1107, IBEW Local 357, Nevada State Education Association, and the Clark County Education Association.

This is an extremely important race. Ozzie Fumo is a progressive former public defender who believes that “[the] tough on crime experiment of the 80’s and 90’s was a complete failure.” He’s ready to take his progressive values to the highest court in the state.

Doug Herndon, on the other hand, is being endorsed by the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County District Attorney, Steven Wolfson. Herndon will prove to be a reliable supporter of the police and conservative causes.

This race can determine the future of our state. Though many don’t realize it, in Nevada, most cases are decided by only three justices, not all seven. If Herndon wins, he’ll only need the vote of one other conservative justice to declare victories for conservative causes. This cannot be allowed. Nevada needs the perspective of a career advocate for the poor and working class on our Nevada Supreme Court. But Doug Herndon is currently in the lead. In order to win this election, Ozzie Fumo will need the support of the progressive community. We can help!

One direct way you can help support Fumo is to allow his campaign to place a sign in your yard or your window. Experts say that a yard sign can equate to about 8 votes each. If you are interested in having a yard sign delivered/installed, please fill out this form.

“Early on I learned about bullies, how sometimes they’re people, sometimes they’re corporations, and sometimes they’re even the government. That’s why I do the work I do, because I believe everyone deserves a defense and everyone should be treated fairly under the law.”
– Ozzie Fumo

If you have any other questions or would like to become more involved with Las Vegas DSA’s Electoral Committee, please reach out to lvdsaelectoral@gmail.com.

If you are not currently a DSA member, you can join the largest and fastest growing socialist organization in the U.S. today by going to dsausa.org/join.