Mike Schaefer loses Nevada election berth

John Michael Schaefer, who has made running for office a career, has been removed from the June ballot for Nevada state controller.

The Nevada Supreme Court recently reaffirmed last month's Nevada District Court ruling that Schaefer, 76, failed to meet the state's two-year residency requirement.

Mike Schaefer, as he is known locally, served as a San Diego City Councilman from 1965-'71. He since has had his share of legal hassles, including brushes with the law for operating substandard rental units and for spousal abuse. In 2005 he was disbarred from practicing law in California.

Schaefer, who ran for Los Angeles City Council last year, recently told a Nevada District Court judge that he rents a room in Los Angeles. However, he insisted his primary residence is a condo in Las Vegas that he shares with his son, reported The Las Vegas Review Journal.

In recent years, the serial office seeker has run for California Board of Equalization, San Francisco district attorney, U.S. senator from Maryland (capitalizing on the reputation of an unrelated Maryland governor named Schaefer), Nevada secretary of state, U.S. Congress and San Diego County district attorney.

Schaefer is registered to vote in California, however, it was his own testimony that contributed to his undoing last month. In her ruling, District Court Judge Carolyn Ellsworth referred to Schaefer's comment in a driver's license case last January. While he possessed licenses issued in both California and Nevada, Schaefer told a Las Vegas Justice of the Peace that he really lives in California.