Mesquite mayor beats recall

Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

Mesquite Mayor Chuck Horne should get himself recalled more often if the results of Monday's recall election in Mesquite are any indication of his apparent popularity.

Horne received 564 more votes against recalling him than he got when people of the small but fast-growing community about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas voted him into office in November 1999.

The final tally was 1,351 votes against recall -- 59.2 percent compared to the 51.9 percent when he was elected to office -- and 919 for the recall. The election results must be accepted by the City Council at tonight's meeting to become official.

According to the recall petition Horne "no longer has the respect and confidence of the citizens of Mesquite (and) does not communicate or work positively with either the city staff or City Council."

Horne, in a statement he was allowed to place on the ballot, said, "At the last election, you ... sent a strong message that you've had enough of powerful special interests pulling the strings of city officials ... I promised you that I would work for a level playing field ... I have kept that pledge."

Horne has not always seen eye to eye with fellow councilmen or city staff officials. He even sued the council and won over what he felt was an improper selection of a mayor pro tem.

Attempts to reach Horne early today were not successful.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said today that Monday's election resulted in one of the largest turnouts in Mesquite's history, but he could not confirm without further research that it was indeed the largest.

In all, 56.8 percent of the town's 3,995 active registered voters went to the polls at City Hall Thursday through Saturday for early voting and on election day Monday at City Hall and the town's recreation center.