Republican state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer can move forward with a lawsuit arguing his political opponent defamed him last year by falsely linking him to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid.
The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a lower court, which denied a motion to dismiss Kieckhefer's lawsuit.
Kieckhefer sued his primary opponent Gary Schmidt over a campaign advertisement that said Kieckhefer endorsed Reid for Senate in 2010. Schmidt cited an article from the Las Vegas Sun as the ad's basis.
Kieckhefer argued the article only said he supported State Senator Bill Raggio for majority leader. Raggio supported Reid.
The supreme court ruled there was no rational way to interpret the article as saying Kieckhefer directly endorsed Reid. Justices went further than the lower court, asserting Schmidt acted in bad faith.