Boggs McDonald readies run for congressional seat

Erin Neff

Monday, Oct. 8, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald is planning to announce Friday that she will run for Congress against incumbent Shelley Berkley.

Boggs McDonald, a Republican, has hired veteran campaign manager Tim Mooney of Scottsdale, Ariz., to run her campaign. Mooney was previously involved in Las Vegas Valley politics when the National Republican Congressional Committee hired him in 1998 to bolster Don Chairez's campaign against Berkley, a Democrat now in her second term.

Mooney, who helped pull Chairez to within a hair of Berkley in the final six weeks of a previously lackluster campaign, told Boggs McDonald he is confident she can beat Berkley if her campaign is focused for the entire year before the November 2002 election.

Boggs McDonald said she decided to run after amassing an "A team" that included Mooney.

"I felt that I had the team assembled that I felt I needed," she said. "Even if you have the talent and experience and passion to win, you can't do it without a talented team."

Boggs McDonald, a former journalist and assistant city manager in Las Vegas, was appointed to the Las Vegas City Council in 1999 to fill out the unexpired Ward 2 term vacated by Arnie Adamson. She was elected to that post this year with 70 percent of the vote and a massive warchest.

Boggs McDonald was courted this summer by national Republican leaders, who believed she could pose the biggest threat to Berkley because of her strong showing in her city ward -- an area encompassed by the redrawn congressional district.

Berkley, however will benefit from having a district with 14 percent more Democrats than Republicans. The congresswoman has previously said she would not comment on prospective opponents until they officially announce their candidacy. She could not be reached this morning because of the federal holiday.

Boggs McDonald, who plans to kick off her campaign at the Doolittle Center in Las Vegas, said she was encouraged by the support pledged to her from the National Republican Congressional Committee and by the demographics in Nevada's 1st Congressional District.

Practically none of the Ward 2 residents who put Boggs McDonald in office have previously seen Berkley's name on the ballot. Much of the Ward 2 area was in Rep. Jim Gibbons' district prior to this year's redistricting.

Boggs McDonald estimates roughly 50 percent of 1st Congressional District residents were represented by Gibbons in the past, meaning both Boggs McDonald and Berkley will be campaigning on an even footing for them.

One of the main reasons national Republicans courted Boggs McDonald is her crossover appeal as a black woman. The 1st Congressional District has about 80,000 blacks, almost exclusively registered as Democrats.

Boggs McDonald also is a Catholic active in church and Catholic charity functions who believes she can play well to Hispanics, who comprise roughly 20 percent of the new district.

Berkley, an adept fund-raiser who already reports having $630,000 in the bank for the race, has some of her strongest showings on Election Day in West Las Vegas, which is predominantly black.