Boggs McDonald helps candidate

Sito Negron

Friday, June 11, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

A Republican activist running for former Ward 2 City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald's seat is getting support from the former Las Vegas council member.

Candidate John Hambrick on Thursday announced that Lynette Boggs McDonald, who won Ward 2 with more than 70 percent of the vote in 2001 and remained a popular figure in her district before accepting an appointment to a vacant Clark County Commission seat, is lending some money, her name and a brief statement to the Hambrick campaign.

"John is a hard-working and dependable person committed to making this community a better place. I have no doubt he would be a strong public servant," Boggs McDonald stated in a prepared news release from the Hambrick campaign.

Hambrick said the statement, and the fact that Boggs McDonald donated money to his campaign, constituted support, not an endorsement. He declined to state how much she donated, saying that it would become public when the first finance report comes out June 15.

"It's a great boost for the campaign. Lynette did a phenomenal job representing Ward 2," Hambrick said.

Boggs McDonald did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Ryan Erwin, a political consultant working for Boggs McDonald's commission campaign, said, "John Hambrick has been an incredible supporter ... a tireless volunteer and hard worker. He's a good guy, they're good friends, and she believes he'll be a good public servant, but she is not making an endorsement in that race."

Hambrick also is touting statements of support from such figures as Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Jon Porter, and Assemblymen Bob Beers and Garn Mabey, all Republicans.

He said that the campaign for Ward 2 is non-partisan, and the support does not reflect an effort to brand himself as the Republican in the race.

"They have seen me roll up my sleeves and get to work, whatever was necessary, put up the signs and take them down, make phone calls," Hambrick said. "It (the support) is an affirmation of my work in the community, not a political statement."

Hambrick said that with 12 people running, "each one of us has certain constituencies in the race, and we'll go from there and try to expand on that."

Political consultant Terry Murphy said an identification with Republicans might help Hambrick among people who "were going to go out and vote anyway, and weren't looking at any other qualifications and wanted to elect a good Republican."

However, she said, repeating a statement she has made since the race was announced, "I keep going back to whether that (statements of support and endorsements) translates into votes. I still think it comes down to door-to-door, face-to-face, person-to-person, getting out the vote."

Murphy did say that Boggs McDonald, who won her 2001 campaign with more than 70 percent of the vote, "was a very strong candidate and well liked in her ward, and her support could mean some help."

Candidate Gabriel Lither, who made a name and built a base of support during the battle over limiting the height of the Red Rock Station hotel-casino, said,"Mr. Hambrick is running his campaign based on the support he's getting from people he knows in the Republican Party.

"I would like to think I have a lot of Democrats and Republicans supporting me. They're just grass-roots, not well-known people," Lither said.

Candidate Steve Wolfson, whose endorsements include the police union and the city of Las Vegas firefighters' union, said that "each of the 12 candidates for this office is trying to gain votes and Mr. Hambrick is using kind words from fellow politicians. I'm doing my best to knock on as many doors as I can and talk to as many neighbors as I can and I believe my old-fashioned approach is much more effective."

Candidate Ric Truesdell said that "any of those kinds of support any candidates get is great."

He said that with such a short campaign -- ending June 22 after only six weeks -- candidates at this point are better off focusing on their own strengths, as opposed to drawing distinctions with their opponents.

"This is a campaign about hard work and experience," said Truesdell, who served as the city's Planning Commission chairman. "You have to keep pointing out to people what you're about and what you do and that's the most important part."