Columnist Jeff German: Wolfson’s cash made difference

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

When all was said and done, one of the oldest principles of political campaigning prevailed in the special election Tuesday for the open Las Vegas City Council seat: Money talked.

In a short five-week race with a crowded field of 12 candidates, Steve Wolfson raised the most money, spent the most money and won the most votes.

And today he's our newest city councilman which, in hindsight, shouldn't be very surprising.

At his victory party Tuesday night, a jubilant Wolfson, who last week reported raising $100,841, acknowledged that money played a big roll in helping him "get his message out."

It was a message, however, that was basically the same as the other leading contenders. They all talked about issues relating to growth, such as safer neighborhoods, less traffic congestion and a better quality of life for residents in the expansive Ward 2, which stretches from Charleston Heights to Summerlin.

Money simply gave Wolfson the ability to associate his name with those issues in the minds of more voters.

Wolfson and his seasoned campaign consultant, Gary Gray, who helped Wolfson's wife, Jackie Glass, get elected to District Court two years ago, flooded Ward 2 mailboxes with campaign fliers touting the criminal defense attorney's candidacy.

Even after Wolfson became the victim of a campaign hit piece on the eve of early voting Friday, Gray was able to come back with a strong mailer in response within 18 hours to minimize the impact of any negative fallout.

Gray also tapped into a group of volunteers who mounted an aggressive door-to-door campaign that left voters with literature promoting Wolfson.

The strategy gave voters the impression that Wolfson wanted the job more than the other candidates.

Money, however, almost didn't buy this race.

Gabriel Lither, who ran a grass-roots campaign and spent a fraction of what Wolfson spent, finished second, losing by just 245 votes. Most of Lither's support came from the Culinary Union and the Ward 2 residents he led in the fight to scale back the Red Rock Station casino project prior to the election.

But even Lither said late Tuesday that he wished he had raised more cash to counter Wolfson's barrage of mailers.

"You have to have a whole lot of money to set yourself apart in a race like this," said Lither, who raised just under $4,000, through June 10. "Everybody was talking the same talk."

In the end the voters went to the polls not really knowing the candidates as well as they could have in a normal 12-month race with a primary to pare down the field.

The good news about Wolfson's campaign war chest is that most of it came in small or moderate contributions from his fellow lawyers, which means that Wolfson will be sworn in July 7 without a lot of special interest baggage.

With his strong personality, Wolfson also isn't going to be a pushover for Mayor Oscar Goodman, a fellow lawyer who dominates the City Council. Wolfson is on record telling voters he's going to be his own man, which is more good news.

And now he has an opportunity to show the residents of Ward 2 that more than money is talking here.