James wins in commission GOP primary

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

His brochure said he stood alone.

But on Tuesday Mark James stood with the dozens of union members who rallied behind the late-comer and led him past his most viable Clark County Commission District F opponent, fellow Republican Tim Cory.

Questions about who else stood by James have swirled around his campaign since May when he announced his candidacy on the filing deadline, the same day incumbent Erin Kenny opted to run for lieutenant governor.

James denied any deal with Kenny, who briefly mingled with supporters at his headquarters after it was clear he was going to slip past Cory. James captured 4,110 votes, 227 more than Cory.

"That's something they tried to create and it didn't work," James said of his connection to Kenny. "I stand on my own record and my record is good."

James, a former state senator, gained a clear advantage by picking up Kenny's army of union members who helped keep her in office for two four-year terms. While it's not typical, union representative Lenny Taylor said it's not unusual for organized labor to back a Republican candidate.

"We believe Mark James is for working people; he helped us on key issues," Taylor said. "He has committed himself to help us and listen to us. He has an ear to the carpenters."

Some, including Cory, believe James' ability to win union endorsements gave him an advantage. Both candidates said Democratic Culinary Union members were urged by their leadership to switch parties to vote in the primary so they could vote for James.

Cory might also have lost additional support to former candidate Esther Quisenberry. Quisenberry dropped out of the race in early July, but not early enough to be excluded from the ballot. She finished with 634 votes in the primary.

"I felt like people needed a choice and they got a choice. I always said I would live with the choice of the people," said Cory, 52.

Cory's camp said residents in the southwest part of the valley complained mostly about Kenny's willingness to make zone changes that contradicted the county's master plan. He believed James might be at a disadvantage because of his perceived connection with the incumbent, whose relationship with constituents had soured.

Cory also believed residents sought a newcomer to the political arena. James is a two-term state senator.

Cory's inexperience and James' familiarity with election night were apparent at their respective headquarters. Cory's supporters sat in a quiet conference room intently watching televised results. James' team sat in his headquarters' parking lot drinking beer and paying little attention to the news.

James, 42, appeared after 9 p.m. and raised his fists in the air well before the final ballots had been counted. Cory spoke about the difficulty of having to change strategies three times as his opponents changed.

The months leading up to the Clark County Commission's Republican primary race for the District F seat were like the hokey pokey dance.

In May Cory, viewed as perhaps the greatest threat to public relations consultant Quisenberry, announced he planned to drop out of the race. Later the same day, Cory opted to stay, saying he was inundated by phone calls from disappointed constituents.

Cory and Quisenberry appeared to be the focus of the race against incumbent Kenny, still considered a favorite.

But on May 20, filing deadline, Kenny dropped out and James entered. Critics claimed James and Kenny planned their announcements to keep formidable Democrats out out ot the race, paving the way for James.

When Quisenberry dropped out, it left James, Cory and Devin Smith, a 38-year-old facilities field supervisor with the city of Las Vegas.

Quisenberry still captured about 7 percent of the votes. Smith received 546 votes, nearly 6 percent.

James now faces Frank Boehnlein, the only Democrat in the race.

The race between James and Cory was expected to be tight. The two accused each other of being more liberal.

James, an attorney with the law firm Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner and Renshaw, is viewed as a more liberal Republican partly because of his pro-abortion stance. But James made a last-ditch effort to capture more right-wing Republicans by signing a pledge promising to fight attempts to legalize same-sex marriages in the state.

Cory, also an attorney, was a registered Democrat until August 2001.