Kincaid-Chauncey files for re-election

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

CANDIDATES

People who filed for office in Clark County on Wednesday. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk. Filing runs through May 14: U.S. House

District 3 Ron von Felden (D) State Senate

District 1 John Lee (D) Assembly

District 1 Shane Byrne (R)

District 2 Garn Mabey (R)*

District 17 David Gibbs (R)

District 21 Bob Seale (R)

District 22 Caren Levenson (D)

District 37 Dennis Fox (R) County Commission

District A Bruce Woodbury (R)*

District B Mary Kincaid-Chauncey (D)*; Shari Buck (R) County Commission

District F John "Rob" Bishop (R) Supreme Court

Seat A Jim Hardesty District Court

Department 11 Mike Davidson Family Court

Department C Steve Jones * Board of Education

District 1 Sharon Frederick; Dean Jeter Regents

District 13 Gloria J. Sturman Justice of the Peace

Department 3 Tony Abbatangelo*

LAS VEGAS SUN

County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey's pending trial for alleged public corruption didn't keep her from filing for re-election Wednesday.

She didn't return calls seeking comment Wednesday night or this morning, but she previously said she plans to fight the federal charges of taking bribes from a strip club owner and expects to retain her commission seat.

"I don't think Mary Kincaid-Chauncey can be written off," she said last week. "I have very strong roots in the community, not just politically but personally. I think that keeps you in good stead."

Also on Wednesday, North Las Vegas Councilwoman Shari Buck filed for the office. While Buck is the only announced Republican so far, it looks like Kincaid-Chauncey will face several contenders in the Democratic primary.

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, filed for the County Commission seat on Monday. Assemblyman Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas, filed this morning for the same seat.

And Democrat John Bonaventura, a one-term assemblyman who served in the 1993 Legislature, also filed for the office this week.

Collins said his camp had The Southwest Group conduct a poll last week that indicated he could beat Buck in a general electiont. In a general election runoff against Kincaid-Chauncey, Buck gets the edge, according to the poll of 600 likely voters in the district.

In a Democratic primary, the poll indicated, Collins would beat Kincaid-Chauncey by a small margin, and North Las Vegas Councilwoman Stephanie Smith and Chowning would finish a distant third and fourth, respectively.

Smith has not yet announced if she will run for office. Bonaventura was not included in the poll.

Collins said the poll shows he's the early front-runner and that Kincaid-Chauney is "unelectable."

Chowning said she doesn't put stock in the poll because Collins' campaign commissioned it.

She said her own poll in November showed she had a much stronger name recognition in the district.

"I've had excellent reception," she said. "People really seem to be ready for a change, and on many, many issues, not just the indictment."

Both Chowning and Collins said they won't attack Kincaid-Chauncey for the charges she faces during the campaign.

But Buck, who said she is going after the 14,000 independent voters in her district, said she thinks the indictment will be "discussed long before the general election."

"I just plan on concentrating on letting the voters know who I am and what I plan to do for the district," she said.