Chamber poll: Commission race close

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

A poll released Tuesday by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce shows that both local and national contests are tightening with seven weeks left in the campaign.

The Sept. 15 through Sept. 18 poll results showed political newcomer Chip Maxfield and Clark County School Board member Lois Tarkanian are nearly even in a race for a Clark County Commission seat.

The poll of 418 registered county voters had a 5 percent margin of error.

The poll was conducted in the Clark County Commission district now occupied by Lance Malone, which has about a 2 percent advantage for Republicans, said Joe Cain, the chamber's assistant director for government affairs.

The poll gave Tarkanian 38.3 percent of the vote to Maxfield's 34.9 percent. Nearly 27 percent were undecided or didn't know how they will vote.

Tarkanian said she isn't worried about the tight race.

"There's been about four other polls where I've been well ahead, and this puts me ahead as well, so that's sort of good," she said.

She said Maxfield benefited from heavy media attention and advertising before the Republican primary, when Maxfield upset Malone.

Tarkanian said her advertising will get going in earnest in October. That advertising will focus on her record in local government and the School Board, she said.

Maxfield said his advertising will focus on the issues of growth, traffic, good planning and schools.

"We are fund-raising and making phone calls and continuing with our grass roots," he said. His first television buy since the primary will come this week, he said.

On the national battlefield, the chamber poll shows that former Rep. John Ensign continues to hold a lead over trial lawyer Ed Bernstein in the contest for retiring Sen. Richard Bryan's seat.

In the chamber poll, Ensign had 50 percent to Bernstein's 39.7 percent. Both camps said the poll numbers are likely to get even closer in the next six weeks before the election.

In another race for national office, the chamber didn't directly ask the voters if they would support incumbent Democrat Rep. Shelley Berkley or Republican state Sen. Jon Porter.

But the poll of attitudes toward the candidates showed that most people held either a neutral opinion or didn't know Porter -- a combined 70.6 percent.

Of those who held an opinion, most -- 24 percent of the voters -- held a favorable view of Porter.

Berkley numbers show much greater name recognition. More than 43 percent of the voters hold a favorable view of Berkley, compared to a 17.5 percent unfavorable rating. Just over 29 percent are neutral, and about 10 percent haven't heard of her.

The numbers are good news, said Josh Griffin, Porter's campaign manager.

"We have the lowest negatives of any elected official in Clark County," he said. "Our survey indicates, among voters who know both Jon Porter and Shelley Berkley, it is a tie ballgame. We also know that challenger races are won in the last three weeks of the campaign."

He said Porter will "be able to compete dollar for dollar with the incumbent" in media buys in the next six weeks.

Voters "want somebody new, they just don't know Jon yet," Griffin said.

Stacey D'Aquila, Berkley's press secretary, said her candidate's television ads are already on the air.

"We're concentrating on the issues affecting the daily lives of the families here," she said. "We will continue to run those types of ads."

In other results, the poll found Clark County voters in a dead heat in the presidential race -- 43.3 percent for Vice President Al Gore and 41.9 percent for Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

The poll also found that most voters oppose a ballot initiative submitted by the Nevada State Teachers Union that would impose a 4 percent income tax on Nevada businesses to fund education. The margin was 48.3 against and 39.5 percent for the proposed tax.

Although the chamber is opposed to the teachers union proposal and has endorsed Maxfield for the County Commission seat, Kara Kelley, the chamber's chief operating officer, said the poll did not push any agenda.

She said the chamber runs an in-house research center for the polling data, which is used to further the business interests of its members, to encourage people to vote and advocate issues.