Commission seats come at high cost

Adrienne Packer

Sunday, May 21, 2000 | 8:11 a.m.

Legendary Nevada lobbyist Jim Joyce once said only eight important political seats exist in the state, seven Clark County Commission posts and the governor's chair.

But even the state's most seasoned politicians are astonished by the record-breaking amounts of money candidates are collecting and spending in their bids for a seat on the County Commission.

After all, it is a part-time job that pays $54,000 a year.

"It's getting out of hand," said Commissioner Myrna Williams, a four-decade veteran in Nevada politics. "Never in a million years did I believe the cost would be so high."

Just six years ago, commission candidates swiped incumbents' seats and in doing so spent in the range of $350,000. That figure has become laughable since Commissioner Erin Kenny raised and spent more than $1 million in 1998.

Joyce died seven years ago, but his long-held view on the power of the County Commission is now more valid than ever. The board controls the fate of some of the most valuable land in the world -- gambling properties on the Las Vegas Strip. And it makes decisions that affect the big-money developers who are driving the Las Vegas Valley's economic engine.

That political power is translating into bigger and bigger campaign war chests. And this year, with four commissioners running for re-election -- and two races expected to be tight -- many observers think the campaign costs will escalate into an even higher stratosphere.

"The County Commission is not as big anywhere as it is here," said Mike Sullivan, with the political consulting firm Paladin Agency. "Gaming is trying to keep people in there because they have billions of dollars at stake."

High-priced county races are here to stay and the intimidating dollar amounts are already keeping potential candidates away, political consultants say.

Incumbent Lance Malone, for example, had $500,000 in his cache five months before the filing deadline for November's general election. His aggressive fund-raising effort forced his only opponent at the time to bow out.

By the May 15 deadline, Malone's campaign chest had swelled to $700,000.

Growing commission districts and pricey mailers and television spots aside, the political community believes the gaming industry is precisely why campaign expenses have skyrocketed.

And political consultants maintain that Venetian hotel-casino owner Sheldon Adelson led the way into today's high-stakes campaigns.

Adelson, a notorious foe of labor unions, spent $2 million on television ads blasting incumbent Democratic Commissioners Erin Kenny and Myrna Williams during their 1998 campaigns.

Williams' campaign expenses tripled and Kenny's quadrupled from their first bids for commission in 1994. The reason, according to Kent Oram, who orchestrated Kenny's campaign, is because candidates under constant attack must spend twice as much money defending themselves.

"Eighty percent of attacks are less than honest and truthful," said Oram, who has spent 25 years in the consulting business. "It will cost you two and a half times more just to get you back to square one."

Candidates' only defense is to send twice as many mailers -- one to deliver their campaign message and the other to answer the assault.

Kenny's war chest bulked up to $1.2 million and Williams' contributions amounted to about $730,000 after Adelson's well-publicized campaign blitz. Sullivan said Adelson's involvement had a permanent effect on campaign contribution figures in Clark County.

"Now the bar is set, and it's hard to go back," Sullivan said. "'When (Adelson) touches a race, he's so hated in town we know we can double up anyone's money. We got more union money, more hotel money because none of them want Adelson to have a voice."

As Clark County grows, commissioners' decisions become more important and therefore a company's contribution becomes more valuable, said Dr. Richard Siegel, a University of Nevada, Reno political science professor.

"These seats are being competed for and contributions are being made at the level of congressional seats, a cost that is exceptional," Siegel said.

In her 1998 bid for U.S. Congress, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., raised $1.3 million, only slightly more than Kenny collected for her commission race. Neither post has reached the governor's level; Gov. Kenny Guinn raised $6.1 million in 1998.

"Given the rapid growth of Clark County and the kind of decisions being made, quite a bit is at stake," Siegel said. "Contributions are alternative economic investments made by a corporation or individual. If the investment is worth more, the return is worth more."

Big companies or wealthy individuals with special interests launching attacks against candidates appears to be the trend, Sullivan said.

Station Casinos Inc. went after Malone when the commissioner fell back on his promise to vote against a competing hotel-casino. Malone's coffers likely will take a significant hit as he fends off Station Casinos fliers that claim the commissioner is untrustworthy.

And reaching every voter in his district is no easy task.

As in Kenny and Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury's district, the number of registered voters in Malone's District C has more than doubled since 1994. As the population increases, so do campaign expenses.

Malone drops $20,000 each time he sends a mailer to the 126,950 registered voters in his district. A 30-second television spots that runs once strips him of about $2,000.

"It's like Coke and RC Cola," Sullivan said. "You've got Coke that spends $10 million on advertising and not a whole lot of people know RC Cola."

So can the RC Colas of Clark County ever have a decent chance to challenge the Cokes?

George Togliatti, a former FBI agent, tossed his name into the Malone race last summer and gave himself until January to raise $100,000. He was $40,000 short of his goal and quickly dropped out.

Togliatti said he wasn't intimidated by Malone's money; he was aware it would take a hefty cache to unseat the incumbent. But his goal was to determine whether he had the support necessary to win before spending large amounts of money.

State laws that force candidates to disclose contributions ultimately led to Togliatti dropping out of the race.

"If I tell you one guy has $500,000 and the other guy has $60,000 and the guy with $60,000 is on the line, do you want to pick up the phone?" Togliatti said.

Elected officials and their advisers claim that success is less about how much money a candidate raises and more about who believes in their message. Incumbents, who typically collect more money, can be vulnerable, they say.

In 1992 Yvonne Atkinson Gates knocked off incumbent William "Doc" Pearson, and during the following election Kenny beat Don Schlesinger and Williams beat Thalia Dondero. In 1996 Malone defeated Paul Christensen.

Williams said she only had $60,000 in her coffers during the 1994 primary race when she beat Dondero.

"I would hope the money wouldn't scare anyone away, and they would go forward like I did," Williams said. "I walked and walked and reached every person I could possibly reach."

Commissioners in smaller districts have the tricky task of striking a financial balance -- they want enough money to educate voters, but they don't want to end up with a huge pot of money after the election.

Atkinson Gates, for example, will not have a heavily contested race in District D, where about 44,000 voters are registered. She said she is satisfied with her $500,000 war chest, but if Adelson becomes active she will raise more.

"If someone doesn't have a race and raises a million dollars, people will wonder what they're doing with that money," said Sullivan, who conceded that it is difficult to determine how much money is needed. "People ask us how much they should raise and our answer is as much as humanly possible."

Adrienne Packer covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com.