Culinary Union throws support behind Clark County DA challenger

Nevada’s largest union has endorsed Robert Langford in the race for Clark County District Attorney.

Culinary Workers Local 226 announced Tuesday morning that it will back the Democrat, longtime defense attorney and ACLU of Nevada board member.

“It’s time that Nevadans have a District Attorney who will stand up for working people, not just the wealthy and the well-connected,” union Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline wrote in a statement. “We look forward to seeing Robert champion workers’ rights and other issues important to working families as Clark County’s next District Attorney.”

The culinary union is widely recognized for its ability to mobilize its more than 57,000 members to propel political candidates into office.

This is the second big union to back Langford in his bid to unseat incumbent Steve Wolfson. Service Employees International Union Local 1107, which has 19,000 government and health care workers, announced in April that it is endorsing Langford.

Langford said his criminal justice reform-driven platform led to the endorsements.

“I think the unions understand we have to change the way we do things and this benefits everyone,” he said. “They understand the power of the incumbent, and they recognize the person that stands in the office right now isn’t the leader to get criminal justice reform done.”

Wolfson was appointed to District Attorney by county commissioners in February 2012 and elected to the seat in 2014.

Langford, 59, entered this year’s race a day after a Review-Journal investigation exposed that Wolfson did not press charges against a longtime aide who stole nearly $42,000 from his campaign in 2014. Audrie Locke, 45, was allowed to quietly repay the money she had taken and today is employed as Wolfson’s spokeswoman.

The winner of the June 12 Democratic primary will be the county’s next DA because there are no candidates from another party.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.