Nevada's oldest legislator considers switching sides

Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas, is 74, and the oldest member of the Nevada Legislature.

Munford, representing District 6, will be term-limited after the 2015 session. And for his final session, he is thinking of leaving the Democrats to caucus with the Assembly Republicans.

"I'm very tempted," Munford said. "I have not totally made up my mind. I have to see what my political future is and what I am going to do. There is still time. I say at this point, probably not. But it could change."

Munford is dismayed about the way he has been treated by the Democratic caucus over the years, especially when it has held the majority in the Assembly.

Munford has been in the Assembly going on 12 years, and he said that he's never been offered a committee chairmanship or even what he calls a "token" leadership position.

"My colleagues in the Democratic caucus, they look at me like I'm invisible," Munford said. "They don't show me much courtesy. They hardly speak to me and I'm serious.

"Nobody has served longer than me and (former Speaker) Marilyn Kirkpatrick," Munford said. "And in the last session, I didn't even get a token position. Nothing. They just ignored me."

Munford said part of the problem may be an age gap between him and his Assembly Democratic colleagues.

"They are a lot younger than me," Munford said. "Those kids, most of the (Democratic) caucus members are in their 40s and 30s and I'm 74 years old, come on."

Munford says he is also more conservative than his Democratic colleagues and perhaps doesn't share their zeal for the some of their issues.

He was upset during the 2013 Legislature when he felt some Democrats tried to equate the current struggles for marriage equality for gay Nevadans to the struggles for the civil rights of black Americans in the 1960s.

"I have a district that is 90 percent African-American," Munford said. "And maybe they (fellow Democrats) felt all I was interested in were the social injustices that occurred in my district," Munford said.

Munford said he deserves more from Democrats. He was unopposed in District 6 when he won re-election in November.

"When you continue to win your district and your constituents really appreciate what you've done for them, you should earn those rewards," he said. "You should be rewarded for that and they (Democratic caucus) hasn't shown that at all, not at all."