Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.
Incumbents in Boulder City's mayoral and City Council elections, the last contested races in the Las Vegas suburbs, continued to far outspend their opponents during the last campaign finance reporting period before the Tuesday general election.
Mayor Robert Ferraro and Councilman Bryan Nix also fared much better than their opponents in raising campaign funds during the period from March 28 through May 22, according to reports filed Tuesday.
According to the campaign finance reports:
Ferraro raised $27,694 and spent $24,765 during the reporting period that spanned the end of the primary campaign and much of the time leading up to the general election. Donations to the mayor's campaign included $1,000 from Station Casinos, $1,000 from Boulder City Disposal and $1,000 from Sempra Energy Global Enterprises.
Former Councilman Bill Smith, who came in first in the April 8 mayoral primary, raised $1,626 and spent $2,696, most of it on campaign signs, during the same period.
Meanwhile, the separate Friends of Bill Smith for Mayor raised $1,823, primarily in donations of $100 or less, and spent $1,326 on newspaper ads.
In the council race, Nix, third place in the primary, raised $19,840, including $1,000 from Sprint. Nix spent $20,860 during the most recent reporting period.
Nix's totals far exceeded the funds raised and spent by the other three candidates vying for two seats on the Boulder City council.
Karla Burton, who received the most votes in the primary, raised $6,666, including $1,000 from Mandalay Bay, and spent $7,356, much of which paid for signs and newspaper ads, according to her campaign finance reports.
Roger Tobler, who ran second in the council primary, raised $4,832, including $1,500 from Foothill Development Co. and $1,000 from Merrill Lynch, and spent $3,016.
Meanwhile, the fourth-place finisher in the primary, Kevin Polk, raised $1,057, including $207 from himself, and spent $1,075.
The trend of incumbents out-spending and out-fund-raising challengers was also seen in North Las Vegas.
Incumbent council members Shari Buck and William Robinson, who both won re-election, far exceeded their challengers in fund raising and campaign spending during the reporting period.
Buck raised $21,709, including $1,000 contributions from Contri Construction and Southern Nevada Paving, and spent $45,852. Buck started this reporting period with $119,330 in her campaign account, which left her with $95,187 in campaign funds at the end of the reporting period.
Buck's challengers, Bill Dolan, Honey Easter and Lee Fuller, raised a combined $620 and all together spent $3,415.
Robinson ended the campaign with a deficit after spending $36,044 while adding $31,350 to his campaign account that started the period with about $2,383.
Robinson challenger Nelson Stone raised $6,600 and spent $12,130, while his other challenger, Howard Flebbe, raised and spent no money.
The only challenger to beat an incumbent in the April 8 election, Henderson Municipal Court candidate Douglas Hedger raised and spent more than incumbent John Provost.
Hedger raised $10,809, including $2,000 from KB Home, and spent $9,015.
Meanwhile, Provost raised $840 and spent $5,768.
Henderson City Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers raised $34,931, including $5,000 contributions from KB Home, Vestin Mortgage, and Shustek Investments. She also spent $55,109 in her successful re-election effort. Because Cyphers started with $81,049 in her campaign account, she ended the reporting period with $60,872 in her campaign account.
Cyphers' opponent, Ed Molitoris, raised no money and spent $1,566 during the reporting period.
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