Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Polls in Gates-Rhodes race present conflicting results

Two separate polls surveying voters' opinions of incumbent Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates and her potential primary opponent, North Las Vegas Councilman John Rhodes, show vastly different results.

While Rhodes representatives said a poll conducted by an independent Texas-based consultant says Gates' approval ratings are greater than Rhodes, a Mirage Resorts poll indicates Gates has already locked up the race.

Keith Lynam, president of DRGM Lynam Communications, who has been hired to measure the support for Rhodes in District D, declined to name the Texas company.

During the December poll, 48 percent of voters polled supported Gates, 21 percent favored Rhodes and 31 percent were undecided. After the caller informed voters of Gates' ethics lapse, 44 percent said they still approved of Gates, 30 percent said they supported Rhodes and 26 percent were undecided.

Lynam said 62 percent of the 400 residents in District D were not familiar with Rhodes. Rhodes is in his second term on the North Las Vegas City Council, which makes up most of District D.

Rhodes, who like Gates is a Democrat, has yet to formally announce his candidacy. Neither is likely to see any competition from Republicans.

Sources said the Mirage poll shows Gates with an overall approval rating of 64 percent. In relation to the November election, the Mirage poll showed that 55 percent of District D residents support Gates and 18 percent approve of Rhodes.

Gates' high marks after what many consider to be the toughest term of her eight years in office prove her popularity in her district, sources said.

In 1998 the state Ethics Commission ruled Gates violated ethics laws by using her position to help an acquaintance secure a lucrative concessions contract at McCarran International Airport.

Gates has also received an early endorsement from the Southern Nevada Central Labor Council and the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association.

"The North Las Vegas Police Officers Association commends you for the many social, economic and physical improvements that you have already brought to the city, and we hope that your re-election will begin a new series of developments for us as well," the police union's letter to Gates says.

Lynam said neither he nor Rhodes is concerned by Gates' numbers or endorsement from the labor union, one of the Las Vegas Valley's most influential organizations.

"The Mirage is supporting Yvonne; no one is putting any credence in a poll done this far in advance," Lynam said. "(Rhodes) isn't an announced candidate. He's doing his research and his analysis, and that's why we're here."

Lynam chalked the early union support up to Gates' approval of a controversial "big box" store ordinance approved by the commission last year. The board passed the union-crafted ordinance that prevents nonunion Wal-Mart from opening any of its traditional Supercenters.

Lynam said Gates failed to recognize that Wal-Mart caters to residents in her district.

"(The union endorsement) was a thank you for the Wal-Mart vote," Lynam said. "I would think it was a surprise that it came out that early, but it's no shock."

When told of the Mirage polling numbers Monday, Gates was hardly surprised.

"It's in line with the feedback I have consistently received from constituents," Gates said. "The reason people support me is because of the job I continue to do for the district. I have produced based on the input I have received from my constituents."

Rhodes isn't without troubles either. He is under investigation by the state attorney general's office for insurance fraud after a home burglary in 1998. Suspicions were raised after Rhodes canceled his claim three months into State Farm Insurance's investigation.

Members of Gates' camp said they believe that although Venetian hotel-casino owner Sheldon Adelson contributed $10,000 to Gates' second campaign, he is behind the Rhodes poll.

Adelson spent more than $2 million trying to defeat Democrats running for the commission in 1998, and Lynam is a lobbyist for the hotel.

However, Andy Abboud, Venetian director of government relations, said Monday his company has not aligned itself with either candidate.

"(Rhodes) has asked us to stay out of this race," Abboud said. "We take each race as it comes, and we haven't really determined a political agenda for this year."

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