Moncrief victory baffles political experts

Judy Odierna

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

The day after a political unknown won more votes than Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald, forcing him into the June 3 general election, political insiders were scratching their heads over the numbers.

But Janet Moncrief said there's no mystery to her success -- just grass-roots campaigning and a desire for change among Ward 1 voters.

If she had been able to garner an additional 129 votes Tuesday, the race would have been over. In a four-candidate field, Moncrief pulled 48 percent of the vote, while McDonald received 44 percent.

Candidates who receive more than 50 percent in the primary win outright.

"I knew what my numbers were and I thought I would win in the primary," Moncrief said.

Moncrief said she believed her profession helped her in the race. She's a nurse at University Medical Center and the director of the Trinidad Surgery Center.

"Being a registered nurse with the medical crisis going on, I think they could identify with me," Moncrief said. "I think what contributed to me winning is the hard work and grass-roots effort to reach the Ward 1 residents. I got to know people and what their needs are, and (addressed) things that have not been accomplished in the ward."

One of the other candidates, Peter "Chris" Christoff, who garnered 5.5 percent of the vote, said he believed it was Moncrief's door-to-door campaigning that pushed her to the top.

But members of McDonald's camp say other factors were at work that will not help Moncrief in the general election.

"Many supporters decided that he didn't need them because a lot of people thought the race was a pass," said Jim Ferrence, a political consultant working on McDonald's campaign. "But now all those supporters, including many seniors, know what's going on. They have seen the writing on the wall, and there's no question they will be there in the general" election.

Ferrence also thinks voters who came out to support Mayor Oscar Goodman, whom Ferrence also represented, had a negative impact on McDonald.

"There are a certain number of registered voters that would have never participated if Goodman wasn't on the ballot," Ferrence said. "It's the anti-establishment voter, the disenfranchised, that would support the mayor but wouldn't support a McDonald. If you take (Goodman) out then McDonald wins the race."

Moncrief's claim that Ward 1 residents were unhappy with McDonald's performance didn't fly with the political consultants because McDonald has always had constituent support as a "pothole councilman," a councilman who takes care of potholes and other neighborhood concerns.

They have pointed out that McDonald retained constituent support after several ethics scandals, including one in which he was cleared of a malfeasance charge in 2001.

The charge came after McDonald worked behind the scenes urging his council colleagues to buy the financially troubled Las Vegas Sportspark. The northwest Las Vegas facility was owned by McDonald's employer, Larry Scheffler, at Las Vegas Color Graphics. McDonald abstained on the actual vote.

A city Ethics Review Board and the state Ethics Commission ruled that McDonald broke ethics laws, but imposed no sanctions. The ethics hearings were the subject of several mailers used against McDonald in the final weeks of the campaign.

"In McDonald's case we don't know@this moment who didn't vote and who stayed home and why (Moncrief) had the support she had," said Craig Walton, professor and program coordinator of ethics and policy studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Maybe not enough people have heard from him, possibly some don't believe him, maybe there's the possibility where they thought the ethics commission was too lenient. Possibly (Moncrief) is a persuasive person."

Shortly after the ethics rulings, McDonald attended a community meeting in which residents of his Ward 1 commended McDonald for his role in planning new parks, getting roads fixed quickly and helping create the neighborhood response team. "Michael has to go back to the basics," political consultant Gary Gray said. "Say what you want about him, but he's done a great job taking care of concerns in his ward. What he needs to do now is remind them of each and every good thing he's done."

Gray was hired by Councilman Gary Reese to help with his campaign. Reese said he decided to change his campaign approach this year after almost losing his seat to challenger Nevada Stupak in 1999.

This year, Reese was expected to have another tough race against Fernando Romero, a prominent Hispanic activist in a heavily Hispanic ward. But Reese picked up a key endorsement from the Latin Chamber of Commerce and went on to trounce Romero, winning 81.6 percent of the vote to Romero's 11.8 percent.

Romero attributed Reese's win to campaign financing. Romero raised $13,825 in campaign funds to Reese's $400,976.

"There's no doubt in my mind that money played a factor," Romero said. "You need to have money to put your message out. (Reese) sent out seven mailers and I couldn't even send out one. It costs about $7,000 for a mailer."

Reese doesn't have any advice for McDonald -- the veteran councilman knows how to win the general election, Reese said.

"(McDonald) has been in the trenches just like I have," Reese said. "He knows what he needs to do. People need to realize what kind of representation they are going to get. Mike has been a good councilman for the area he represents."

McDonald's camp has maintained that another Stupak -- Nevada's father Bob Stupak, the former casino owner -- may have boosted Moncrief in the race because McDonald refused to support Nevada Stupak in his previous election bid against Reese.

Moncrief has acknowledged that Bob Stupak is a friend, but she said he is not supporting her.

"He hasn't helped me at all, and I can't see it as an issue," Moncrief said. "No one in Ward 1 has ever mentioned it to me."

Moncrief has also taken some flak for moving into the ward to run for the seat. Moncrief still owns her house outside of Ward 1 and says her 22-year-old daughter lives there. The owner of her residence in Ward 1 is Dean Zika, a friend of Moncrief.

Moncrief has denied any involvement in anonymous negative mailers that targeted McDonald, including one that at first glance looked like a McDonald campaign mailer, complete with his campaign logo. But the text of the mailer said McDonald was against unions.

Ferrence said the numerous mailers have not been accounted for in campaign finance reports and their value could be $100,000 to $150,000.

McDonald raised $566,149 and spent $333,660 while Moncrief raised $12,438 and spent $11,761, according to campaign finance reports. Moncrief loaned $3,800 to herself and received $5,000 from her Trinidad Surgery Center. Christoff, who took responsibility for at least two of the mailers, loaned himself $5,000.

"There is undisclosed funding being spent," Ferrence said. "We need to get to the bottom of who's funding these campaigns."