Mack builds large war chest for his first re-election bid

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, March 28, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

In his first stab at campaign fund-raising, Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack leads the pack of council candidates with a war chest of almost $500,000.

His fund-raising efforts since February 2000 tower over fellow City Council incumbents Lawrence Weekly, who has raised $249,848, and Lynette Boggs McDonald, who has raised $216,223.

The primary election is Tuesday, April 3.

The campaign finance report, released Tuesday by the Las Vegas city clerk's office, shows that the leading contributors were gaming companies, builders and developers and Republic Services of Southern Nevada.

Gaming companies donated more to Mack, a total of $52,000 during the reporting period. Weekly picked up $43,000; $35,000 went to Boggs McDonald.

Republic Services gave $19,800 to Weekly, $16,500 to Boggs McDonald and $9,900 to Mack, who raised a total of $467,304.

Builders and developers spent thousands on candidates. including Howard Hughes Corp., for example, which provided $18,000 each to Mack and Weekly and $15,000 to Boggs McDonald.

Mack has $125,100 remaining if the Ward 6 race heads to the general election.

The city clerk's office had not received campaign filings for Mack's leading challenger, community activist Louise Helton. Candidates had until 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, to postmark their campaign contribution forms if they were not dropped off at City Hall.

Money flowed into Mack's coffers primarily from developers and builders. Mack, a small-business owner, also received money from local attorneys, in addition to $5,000 from Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo.

"We've been raising a ton of money," Mack said in an interview earlier this month. "I feel very flattered at all the support. Coming from the private sector, as a salesman, it's not hard for me to ask for the money."

Weekly, who had $38,500 left for May's general election, received money from developers and smaller donations from small businesses and residents in his ward. Among the larger donations was $10,000 from political consultant Sig Rogich.

Former Councilman Bob Nolen, who is challenging Weekly, raised $48,550 and has $16,000 left should he advance to the general election. He spent $5,000 of his own money on the campaign.

Boggs McDonald raised $216,223 and has $35,000 to head into the general election if she does not win a Ward 2 majority.

Boggs McDonald received funds from builders and developers and also residents and businesses in her ward.

The councilwoman said because the population in Ward 2 has grown from 71,000 last year to 92,000, fund-raising also helps get her name out to the new voters.

"I just have to raise money just to introduce myself to the new people, as well as just reintroducing myself," she said. "It costs a lot more to get your message out to 90,000 people in Las Vegas than it would in Portland, Ore."

Mark Solomon, who is challenging Boggs McDonald, pumped all of his fund-raising efforts into the primary race, with $3,900 left of his $52,405 total. Solomon spent $4,000 of his own money on the campaign.

Among his contributors are developers and construction companies. Rick Rizzolo's father, Bart Rizzolo, gave Solomon $5,000, as did Ralph Rizzolo, whose relationship to Rick is unclear.

Although only one municipal court race has two candidates, judges still spent time fund-raising.

Betty Kolkowski, candidate for Municipal Court Dept. 2, raised $84,524, with $20,000 of it her own money. She is left with $12,498 if her race heads to the general election. One of her biggest contributions, $5,000, came from Rick Rizzolo. She also received $3,000 from gaming companies.

Her challenger, attorney Bill Henderson, reported $8,007. All but $100 was his own money. Henderson has already spent most of his funds heading into the primary, with only $100 remaining.

Michelle Leavitt-Fitzpatrick, declared winner for Municipal Court Dept. 3, raised $47,893 and has spent about half that. Cedric Cerns, declared winner for Dept. 5, raised $33,257 and has spent all but $4,000.