Editorial: Gauging Wolfson’s win

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

On Tuesday Steve Wolfson won Las Vegas' Ward 2 special election, receiving almost 23 percent of the vote to runner-up Gabriel Lither's nearly 19 percent. Wolfson handily outspent his opponents, a situation that makes Lither's showing impressive since he spent so little money in contrast.

In taking a look at the numbers, it was disappointing that only 6,084 people -- just 17 percent of Ward 2's registered voters -- actually cast a ballot. For that matter, of this small amount, it's interesting to note that more than three-quarters of these voters cast their ballots for someone other than Wolfson, so he hardly emerges with a mandate. But then again there were 12 candidates in the crowded field, making it tough for anyone to have come away with a convincing win in this race, a situation made more difficult by the truncated period of time that the candidates had in which to campaign before Election Day.

Wolfson was light on specifics during the campaign, but now that he's a member of the City Council, we hope that he turns out to be a quick study who can be an independent voice on a city council that's been dominated by Mayor Oscar Goodman.