McDonald the big surprise as most incumbents roll

Wednesday, April 9, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.

While other incumbents were celebrating Tuesday night, Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald found himself wondering what went wrong.

Every other Las Vegas incumbent either won the election outright or at least led the voting in Tuesday's primary election. McDonald finished second and now faces a runoff in June's general election.

Janet Moncrief, a registered nurse who runs a surgery center, outpolled McDonald with 48 percent of the vote to McDonald's 44 percent in the city's Ward 1 race.

In all of the municipal elections, which were held Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite, McDonald's race was the "the surprise of the night, the shock," said Michael Bowers, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"It didn't surprise me that he didn't win outright; it surprised me that he came in second," he said. "He's the incumbent, he has the name recognition."

McDonald attended an election night party at the Fremont Street Experience with Mayor Oscar Goodman and Councilmen Gary Reese and Lawrence Weekly, who all won re-election.

Other incumbents, outside of Las Vegas, who either lost or were forced into runoffs included:

Combined voter turnout was only 18 percent for the municipal elections in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite.

In Las Vegas, a low turnout -- only 22 percent of registered voters in McDonald's ward -- may have hurt the incumbent. McDonald's opponents also waged a campaign that included several mailers reminding voters that McDonald had faced an ethics probe and a recall effort.

Political consultant Mark Benoit said the ads, along with voter turnout, hurt.

"I think people took it for granted and thought he was going to win easily so they thought he didn't need their vote," Benoit said.