A review panel for the Nevada Commission on Ethics released a determination Wednesday finding “credible evidence” that Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo — also a candidate for Congressional District 4 — violated state ethics rules governing the use of his position to seek favors and services for himself or his business. 

The panel did not recommend the case move on to the full ethics commission, however, and instead placed Blundo under a deferral agreement requiring him to comply with ethics laws for the next two years. The agreement also mandates Blundo acknowledge the board’s “public admonishment” of his conduct, as well as present the approved deferral agreement to the board or issue a public apology.

Blundo did not immediately return a call seeking comment, but in a statement to the Pahrump Valley Times said it was a “wrong choice of words that got us here.” Blundo said he had asked “those whose job it is to promote small business to do their job and promote them,” and erred when he mentioned his own restaurant “in the context of all restaurants.”

The commissioner is also among a half-dozen Republican candidates vying to represent Congressional District 4, a geographically-sprawling district that encompasses both North Las Vegas and much of the state’s rural center. Though District 4 has been held by both major parties since its creation in 2012, Democrats have maintained control of the district since 2016. 

20190821 PanelDetermination 19-026 27C(Blundo) by Jacob Solis on Scribd