Ex-candidate claims rival defamed him

Aformercandidateforclark County public administrator is suing his primary foe over a now-deleted post on an election website.

Aaron Manfredi filed a defamation suit against Thomas Fougere in Clark County District Court on Thursday, claiming damages in excess of $10,000.

In a statement, Manfredi blamed his loss to Fougere in the Republican primary on “slanderous statements.”

“I will not let someone destroy my goodnameandtheworkihavedone over the past 20 years with lies and attacks on my integrity just for their personal benefit, and this community deserves the truth, especially from anybody even attempting to run for government,” Manfredi wrote.

The lawsuit alleges that Fougere falsely claimed Manfredi “paid himself $65 per hour for ‘volunteer work’ from contributions” to his Las Vegas nonprofit The Achievement Academy Inc., which helps find employment for adults with high-functioning autism and other disorders.

The post on Fougere’s campaign website cited a 2015 Internal Revenue Service filing that showed Manfredi, the nonprofit’s executive director, paid himself $23,700. The form also said Manfredi devoted an average of seven hours per week to the position.

The post also claimed that the nonprofit had “lost money every year” since Manfredi became executive director in 2014. The lawsuit is the epilogue of an irregular race between the two candidates.

Manfredi defeated Fougere by four votes in the June 12 primary, but the election was redone after it was discovered that as many as 43 voters had cast ballots twice. In a rematch last week, Fougere beat Manfredi by 23 percentage points.

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