Editorial: Image will be Job 1 in Las Vegas’ Ward 1

Friday, April 11, 2003 | 9:13 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald had everything that political experts say is necessary to win elections -- money, recognition and incumbency. Registered nurse Janet Moncrief had none of that when she filed in February to run against him. Yet it is Moncrief who now has the momentum. In the primary election Tuesday, she gained 48 percent of the vote to his 44 percent, sending the two of them into the June 3 general election.

McDonald's strategy for recovering centers on looking ahead. He points to the voter turnout of only 18 percent in the primary. In the general election, he says, voters in Ward 1 will not take his victory for granted. He predicts his supporters will turn out in force to give him a third term. Part of Moncrief's strategy centers on the past -- McDonald's past. The city and state found McDonald in violation of ethics standards, and she says it is time to bring integrity back to the City Council. She is seeking support from the more than 2,600 voters in Ward 1 who signed a recall petition against McDonald that failed in December 2000.

Voters will have questions for both candidates. McDonald will have to persuade them that his ethics lapses are behind him. Tuesday's result is proof that his record of responding to constituents is not itself enough to win. And Moncrief will have to persuade voters that her recent move to Ward 1 -- so that she could run against McDonald -- was motivated by public service, and that she is not simply a front person for McDonald's political adversaries.