Democrats lead in Clark County Commission races, except for one
Democrats led early in Clark County Commission races except for in District C, where two politically tested candidates were locked in a tight battle, according to unofficial election results released early Wednesday.
It has been a 12-year-run of all Democrats on the powerful county board, and the last time a non-Democrat was elected to the commission was in 2004. Assemblyman William McCurdy II, running to replace Commissioner Lawrence Weekly in District D, had the most commanding advantage of any Democrat, receiving close to 77 percent of the vote.
But it was District C that held the most intrigue of the early tabulations.
District C
Republican Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony was up only about 2,200 votes over Democratic former Secretary of State Ross Miller, with nearly 130,000 ballots counted, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Anthony had secured 50.84 percent of the vote, making up an earlier 300-vote deficit, as he and Miller fought to replace outgoing Commissioner Larry Brown.
When early figures showed Anthony trailing, he said he was optimistic that subsequent tallies would be more favorable to him because they would capture more Republican voters who cast a ballot on Election Day.
“It’s a close race,” he said, following the release of Tuesday night numbers. “Kind of have to wait to see what happens.”
Miller, a two-term secretary of state who turned to business ventures and law in recent years, ran for the county seat after becoming disenchanted with the partisanship in national politics.
Anthony, a retired police captain and three-term councilman, is a self-described conservative against tax increases who said he would strive to keep business regulations low.
Miller has been critical of Las Vegas leadership during the pandemic and filed a complaint against Anthony accusing the city councilman of illegal fundraising tactics. Anthony, who returned $15,000 to two donors in response, has outraised his opponent in this campaign cycle by more than a 4 to 1 margin.
District D
In the second of two contests without an incumbent, McCurdy faced off against former Las Vegas Fire Chief David Washington, an independent, in District D, made up of downtown and east Las Vegas, the Historic Westside and portions of North Las Vegas,.
McCurdy said he was “clearly pumped” when he saw that voters overwhelmingly chose him to represent the district, adding that he felt “a great sense of gratitude” to the people.
“We’re going to take this in tonight,” he said, and then “get to work.”
Meanwhile, two other races featured incumbents holding steady.
District B
Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick had 53 percent of the vote, facing two challengers in District B: Republican Kevin Williams (44 percent) and Clark County Independent American Party Chairman Warren Markowitz (2 percent), according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Kirkpatrick has been a leader in local efforts to control the pandemic and, although she has said she is her own biggest critic, she believed the county’s proactive response has put it ahead of other U.S. jurisdictions.
Williams, a facility director for Boyd Gaming Corp. who ran for a second straight cycle, has said his reasons for seeking the seat have not changed: The Sunrise Manor region where he has lived for nearly three decades is “beat up” and economic development has stalled in the area.
Markowitz, a licensed attorney out of New York, vowed to be a reasonable voice for constituents who favored limited government, fewer taxes and spending within the county’s means.
District A
In the contest for District A, appointed Commissioner Michael Naft led with 52 percent of the vote over retired law enforcement officer Michael Thomas (47 percent) as the two went head to head in hopes of representing a largely unincorporated district over the next four years with territory stretching to southern rural towns.
Naft has called for a balanced approach to the pandemic, focusing on the public health response and looking out for small businesses, and he has said he would continue efforts to address an “unacceptable” number of deaths in vehicle crashes throughout the valley.
Thomas, who was fired as a North Las Vegas police officer in 1999 after what he described as efforts to expose corruption, has said he is “skeptical but compliant” about public health mandates and has promised to push property tax reform, “cut through the red tape” to get businesses reopened and return more tax revenue collected from outlying areas such as Laughlin and Searchlight to those towns.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.