Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Williams scores narrow victory

Despite a campaign by her opponent that capitalized on her appearance before the state Ethics Commission, Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams squeaked through in Tuesday's primary election.

Williams, a Democrat, captured 3,919 votes and Tony Badillo -- founder of the Nevada Dealers Association -- collected 3,105.

Meanwhile, Williams' fellow Democratic county commissioner, Erin Kenny, leaped ahead in her District F race. Her closest opponent came in about 4,500 votes behind. Kenny will face Nevada State Trooper Steve Harney, who received 4,503 votes (59 percent) and easily beat his Republican opponents.

The District G seat, which was vacated by lieutenant governor candidate Lorraine Hunt, will be taken by either Democrat Dario Herrera or Republican Milt Doyle.

Williams said she expected a close race for District E because Badillo consistently pounded her over the Ethics Commission probe.

"For 10 months I was all over the front pages with the Ethics Commission," Williams said. "Then when I was totally exonerated, I was on page 37. I had a short time to undo all that negativity."

Now that Williams has shaken her Democratic opponent, she'll go after Mark Smith, who ran unopposed in the primaries.

Smith, former president of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, touts himself as a non-politician. Despite receiving nearly $100,000 in donations from companies owned by Las Vegas Sands Inc. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, Smith said he will not be influenced.

Williams said she plans to continue improving her district, one of the older regions of the county, by creating more recreational opportunities for senior citizens and youths and implementing programs to reduce crime.

"I believe in positive campaigning," said Williams, who has lived in the same house in her district for 35 years. "I plan to run on my record."

Both candidates have healthy campaign purses -- Williams has collected $383,575 and Smith has $101,275.

Kenny breezed past her opponents in the primaries, receiving about 76 percent of the votes. Frank Boehnlein, a chemical technician and music professor, was her closest opponent with 11 percent of the votes.

But Kenny may be in for a much tougher fight against Harney in the November election.

The former state trooper spokesman won his race by a wide margin, having had an advantage over his opponents because of his high visibility. Not only was he a spokesman who appeared regularly on the television news, but he hosted the "Steve Harney Show," which offered traffic and safety tips.

The trooper refuses to be discouraged by Kenny's campaign fund of $657,524 compared to his $96,822 in donations.

"We've seen candidates with a lot of money who don't win," Harney said after his victory Tuesday. "We don't have as much money, but we'll spend it wisely and get our message out."

Harney has been spreading his message for months, walking door-to-door in his district meeting residents and explaining what he hopes to do if elected. He said he plans to run a strong grassroots campaign.

"I want to get back to the master plan so these folks know when they buy a house, they'll know what will go next to it," Harney said.

Harney said he will keep with the same strategy he used to win the primary, only this time around, he may try to swipe some Democrats from Kenny. He feels he may be successful by guaranteeing an accessible and accountable commissioner.

The trooper said he was surprised he beat candidate Rick Workman by such a large margin. Workman received 17 percent of the votes, but has complained that Harney's early campaign disclosures were misleading and discouraged voters in the district from lending him their support.

Still, Harney said, he doesn't plan to take his primary victory for granted.

"In the next eight weeks, I'm going to knock on as many doors as I can," he said. "It will be a tough battle, but I think we can turn the tides. It will be an upbeat campaign."

Harney has blasted Kenny for being abrasive and said he would be more accessible to residents and the media.

Kenny survived a recent run-in with a group of angry residents who faulted her for seriously considering a Silver State transfer station in their rural neighborhood.

Harney has complained about Kenny's performance the last four years as commissioner, but has never been able to come up with specific votes that he may have cast differently.

Kenny has received more than $100,000 from gaming establishments and Harney has collected about $5,000.

Heavily backed by the gaming industry, Democrat and State Assemblyman Herrera has collected $310,000 in the race to represent District G. Herrera collected 3,221 votes (about 46 percent); his closest opponent was Clark County planner Jeff Hardcastle.

Herrera has spent two years in the state assembly and during his tenure was credited for helping residents in his district find affordable health care and worked closely with Aid for Aids of Nevada.

"I was able to build a partnership with the people of my district to help address problems of traffic, safety, educational accountability and access to affordable health care," said Herrera, who has collected more than $300,000 for his campaign.

"These are issues that affect the day-to-day lives of my constituents."

Now the young candidate must face Doyle, who collected about 56 percent of the Republican votes and slipped past Ernie Freggiaro.

Doyle, a local insurance agent who has lived in the Las Vegas area for more than 25 years, has collected $78,950. He is running on a platform that includes addressing traffic problems, water quality issues and police response times.

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