Donors want an ear in giving money to Las Vegas-area municipal races

When it comes to big-dollar contributions in local elections, donors hope their money translates to access.

Experts who track campaign finance data say the reason behind big donations to political candidates at the municipal level stems from a hope that they can bend the ear of a future elected official.

“Oftentimes our analysis shows donors who are fairly savvy give to the candidate who wins,” said Denise Roth Barber, managing director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics. “They want to have a seat at the table.”

Municipal elections in the Las Vegas Valley post perpetually paltry voter turnout, and only a couple of months separate the candidate filing period and the primary election. But that doesn’t stop candidates from scooping up high-dollar campaign contributions.

UNLV political science professor David Damore said donors “want to get their voices heard” by the people who will be making decisions.

Even in lopsided races with low voter turnout, valley incumbents have easily pulled in campaign contributions that add up to six figures. The big bankrolls can scare off many opponents.

“Incumbents will be well-resourced and they end up getting all the resources and no one challenges them because of that,” Damore said.

In 2013, incumbent Las Vegas Councilmen Stavros Anthony and Bob Beers fended off a challenger apiece in the primary, with each drawing 76 percent of the vote. Beers received $151,000 in campaign contributions during the first five months of 2013, while Anthony drew $215,170 during the same period. Their opponents combined to raise slightly more than $19,00 in that time.

This year’s 22 Las Vegas candidates reported raking in a collective $833,864 during the first 10 weeks of 2017.

Because candidates in city races can win outright in the primary on April 4, eliminating the need for a runoff in June, there is incentive to seek and spend money early, Damore said.

“If you can get 50 percent now, you’re done,” he said.

PROTECTING FREE SPEECH

Contributions raise eyebrows when businesses or developers donate to political campaigns and later get lucrative contracts or council votes that benefit their bottom line.

State law does not consider campaign contributions that have been properly reported with the secretary of state’s office as a gift to an elected official that could influence their decision-making, and the Nevada Commission on Ethics has held off on issuing a broad opinion on potential “pay-to-play” situations.

The commission has not issued a blanket opinion that campaign contributions, even if they are properly disclosed, should never improperly “influence a reasonable person in his position to depart from the faithful and impartial discharge of his public duties.”

“I think the reason that gets tricky is there’s a careful line of cases about a person’s ability to donate to a political campaign” as a protected form of free speech, Ethics Commission Executive Director Yvonne Nevarez-Goodson said.

WHY ALL THE MONEY?

Henderson Councilwoman Debra March and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee built sizable war chests before making their mayoral runs official. Lee raised $358,000 in 2016, and March reported raking in more than $400,000 in contributions last year.

Hearing that former Clark County commissioner Tom Collins was mulling a run for mayor in part prompted Lee to get a head start on his re-election campaign.

“Before there was ever an election I kept hearing that a former county commissioner wanted to run. In order to not completely screw up everything we’re doing, I got to make sure that he has no shot at the mayor’s chair,” Lee said. “Not only was I upset about it, everybody else who’s ever done business with me was upset about it, saying, ‘How do we get involved?’ and ‘We don’t really want this guy.’

LAS VEGAS WARD 2

The race to represent the west Las Vegas ward has grown heated, and expensive as real estate agent Christina Roush and retired Air Force Col. Steve Seroka hope to ruin Beers’ re-election bid. A lot of the rhetoric and thousands of dollars have poured into the race from people on both sides of the contested plan to develop the Badlands golf course in the Queensridge community.

A new political action committee has entered the fray by targeting Roush and Seroka with a flurry of mailers. Several have a Badlands bent.

First-time candidate Roush reported collecting more than $256,000 for the 10-week reporting period that ran through March 10. She spent $120,444.

Roush has drawn thousands of dollars from Queensridge residents who have opposed the development on the closed golf course that winds through their community.

That includes $2,000 from gaming attorney Frank Schreck and $5,000 from a property trust in Queensridge homeowners’ association president Elaine Wenger-Roesener’s name. Beers has drawn thousands from sources connected to the developers, including $7,500 from the Kaempfer Crowell law firm. Schreck also gave $500 to Seroka’s campaign.

Beers reported raising $171,803 during that time, and spending $106,657.

A mailer from the Beers camp calls Ward 2 candidates Roush and Seroka “puppets” manipulated by “power brokers who want control of the City Council.”

LOW TURNOUT

Las Vegas Councilman Stavros Anthony got a call recently from a constituent, clearly unaware of the upcoming municipal races, who was upset Anthony had campaign signs up and assumed they were leftovers from the November election.

In the most recent city primary in 2015, a combined 57,739 voters — fewer than 14 percent of registered voters — in the three cities took part. Four years ago, a combined 42,258 people in the three cities voted in the primaries.

Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson could align their municipal elections with Clark County’s calendar in November. That move would save the cities a substantial amount in election costs, but it could have potential drawbacks — for the candidates, at least.

“It’s a lot easier to convince 5,000 people to vote for you,” UNLV’s Damore said. “In November, there’s more uncertainty.”

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter. Staff writers Art Marroquin and Nicole Raz contributed reporting for this story.