Jones spends 70 percent of donations on TV ads

Friday, Oct. 30, 1998 | 11:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Trying to offset her late start in the campaign, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones has poured more than 70 percent of her $2 million in campaign collections into television advertising.

Jones' campaign report shows she has received $2,034,000 and spent $1,986,000. Major donations came from Las Vegas casinos and from organized labor.

Television advertising has accounted for $1.4 million of her expenditures. She reported $3,250 for newspaper ads, $48,000 for radio spots, $6,965 for billboards and $22,000 for signs and brochures.

In contrast, her Republican opponent, Kenny Guinn, has spent $1.7 million of his $5.3 million on television, $7,952 in newspapers, $445,414 on radio, $252,117 on billboards and $221,003 in signs and brochures.

Jones' report was mailed Tuesday by the deadline and received Thursday by the secretary of state's Office. She personally loaned the campaign $290,000. In his latest report, Guinn invested $450,000 of his own money.

The two reports show the division in the Binion gambling family in Las Vegas. The late Ted Binion, Bonnie Binion and Damien Binion, each contributed $10,000 to Jones. Ted Binion's donation came two days before his death on Sept. 17.

Guinn, whose report was filed Tuesday in Carson City, got $10,000 each from Becky Binion Behnen, Benny Behnen and Nicholas Behnen.

Contributions of $10,000 to Jones came from Atlandia Design, Boyd Gaming, Doyle Brunson, the Desert Inn, Caesars Palace, the Clark County Classroom Teachers Association, Coast Hotels & Casinos and Don Best Sprots, all of Las Vegas.

There were also $10,000 donations from the Stardust, Mission Industries, Sandy Murphy, the state Democratic Party, Piercy, Bowler, Taylor & Kern, Prime Cable of Las Vegas, Chip Reese, Stratosphere and TYOH Advertising all of Las Vegas. Morton Weisberg of Moreland Hills, Ohio and the Democratic Governors Association of Washington D.C., also chipped in $10,000 each.

In the contest for lieutenant governor, Republican Lorraine Hunt outspent Democrat Rose McKinney-James $518,356 to $297,374. Hunt reported she received $384,946 and McKinney James collected $311,817.

Biggest contributors in the new report for Hunt are $8,000 from the Fiesta Casino, $7,500 in-kind from Brad Davis and $5,000 in-kind from Chancellor Communications, all of Las Vegas.

McKinney-James received $7,500 from the Southern California-Nevada Council of Carpenters in Las Vegas and $5,000 each from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Clark County Classroom Teachers, Nevada State Education Association, Valley Broadcasting and the Women's Democratic Club.

Hunt reports she put $131,251 into television advertising, $2,452 into newspapers, $53,980 in radio and $114,338 in billboards. McKinney-James spent $137,762 in television, $195 in newspapers, zero in radio, $11,702 in billboards and $13,530 in signs and brochures.