Tom Collins met his wife, Kathy, after he stole her car in high school
Commissioner Rory Reid believes "there is absolutely no filter between his brain and mouth". Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins has a history that few people know about, and if they did, would perhaps convince them to think twice about leaving him in office. In an article in the Las Vegas Sun (June 4, 2006), Collins was exposed as a bit of a loose cannon by a Sun reporter. This report revealed him as a man with a temper capable of physically assault on other human beings. It was reported that Collins physically assaulted two men in the 1980s, leaving one of them with damage to the nerves in his face and a broken nose. His excuse for one of the assaults was that the person had stolen money from him. Should this type of personality be a concern to the voters in Clark County today? What does or should this tell us about our commissioner?
While Tom Collins was giving the appearance of getting an education at Texas Tech University, he had other priorities.
"I was there to ride bulls and drink scotch," he told the Sun reporter.
He met his wife, according to the article, by stealing her car. She had left her keys in the car when he noticed it, got in, and revved the engine. She got in just as he was about to tear off. They sealed their first date by flying over railroad crossings at 90mph. Some would smile and smirk at this "good ol' boy" routine, but others, myself included, would call it sheer recklessness.
Perhaps the greatest mystery surrounding Tom Collins is that while he is the head of the Democratic party, if you scratch him, you might just see the veneer of another type of political animal altogether; a Republican. He does not believe in abortion rights and he supported the statewide initiative to ban same-sex marriage. Perhaps he should read the Democratic Party Platform as the head of the Nevada Democratic Party. Once again...cute. But this Bushian ability to speak a populist line hides the facts of his past. Tom Collins has not changed. He is still a reckless man whether it be from behind the wheel of a car or from behind the podium at the county commission hall.
Dina Titus remembers Tom Collins in the state legislature.
"He used to try and kill all of my humane treatment of animals in the legislature." she was quoted as saying. This makes sense for a Democratic politician who keeps an "eat beef" bumper sticker on his car and is a proud member of the National Rifle Association. Couple this with the fact that Collins is a Mormon and you have one odd Democrat, I almost said Republican.