NLV, Henderson have just one uncontested race

Dan Kulin

Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

Henderson and North Las Vegas voters have plenty of choices in the coming elections as 17 candidates vie for six offices. All but one of the races is contested.

In Henderson Ward 2, Councilman Andy Hafen is seeking a fifth term in one of the most crowded fields in the spring election.

Hafen, 48, is going up against Rocco Tucker, 35, a small-business owner and son-in-law of a developer who has master-planned about 5,000 acres in Henderson; Briana Ousley-Mitchell, 35, who worked in customer relations for National Airlines; and Jesse Dominic Harris, who filed as a council candidate on Friday, the deadline to do so.

North Las Vegas Councilwoman Shari Buck also faces a crowded field of opponents.

Buck, seeking a second term as the Ward 4 representative on the council, is going up against Bill Dolan, who moved into her district to qualify to run against Buck; Honey Easter, whose husband Glen tried to get a council-policy changes question on the spring ballot; and Lee Fuller, the owner of a furniture installation company.

Steve Wark, a political consultant who ran North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon's and Buck's campaigns in previous elections, said Buck will probably see herself in a "very competitive contest against some hard-working opponents."

But Wark said the closest race in North Las Vegas probably will be between longtime Councilman William Robinson and challenger Nelson Stone, a member of the North Las Vegas Planning Commission. Howard Flebbe is also challenging Robinson for the Ward 2 council seat.

Although Robinson has been on the council since 1983, incumbency in fast-growing North Las Vegas does not carry the same weight as it might elsewhere, Wark said.

"The city has grown and changed considerably since William Robinson first ran," Wark said. "There will be a vast number of people who have never voted for William Robinson or seen his name on a ballot."

He predicted Stone could pose a serious challenge to Robinson.

"Being on the Panning Cmmission helps. It allows him to hit the ground running as far as knowledge of the needs of the city," he said.

But Kent Oram, a political consultant working on Hafen's campaign, said a crowded field tends to favor the incumbent.

Usually there's a limited number of anti-incumbent votes out there, and the more challengers there are the more they split those votes, Oram said.

But while this may work in the incumbents' favor in the primaries, in the general election it comes done to just two candidates and so it can be anyone's race, he said.

The other contested races are for Henderson's Ward 1 council seat and Henderson Municipal Court Department 2.

Henderson Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers faces challengers Ann Barron and Ed Molitoris in the Ward 1 council race. Barron ran unsuccessfully against Hafen four years ago and was director of the city's economic development office from 1982 to 1998.

Molitoris, 47, is a Clark County building inspector making his first run for public office.

Municipal Judge John Provost, on the bench since 1996, faces a challenge from Douglas Hedger, 36, county chief deputy public defender.

Only Henderson Councilman Steven Kirk has a clear path to re-election. Kirk, who is ending his first term in office, is the only candidate running in the city's Ward 4 race.

Henderson and North Las Vegas council members represent different wards within their cities but are elected in non-partisan at-large elections.

The candidates will first face off on the April 8 primary. Early voting in the primary is from March 22 to April 4.

The general election is on June 3. Early voting for the general election is May 17 to May 30.