Goldwater kicks up heat with new commission ad

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

In the stretch run of the 2004 contest for Clark County Commission seats, ads from the major party candidates for District F have blanketed local television.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, trying to knock off the appointed incumbent, Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald, has kicked up an already rancorous campaign with a new spot that Goldwater said he hopes will draw attention to his opponent's "personal financial situation" and "enthusiasm for more development."

Goldwater, a Democrat in the southwestern valley district that has a Democratic registration advantage, has faced a 3-to-1 disadvantage in campaign contributions.

Nonetheless, he has been able to buy television time to counter ads from Boggs McDonald that bring up his 2002 arrest for drunk driving and a subsequent civil suit stemming from an accident, allegations of sexual harassment from his time in the Legislature, and a decade-old bar brawl.

His latest ad references Boggs McDonald's default of a mortgage on her home, allegations that she tried to intervene to save her husband's job and refusal to publicly produce her income tax returns for 2002 and 2003.

Goldwater has released his 2002 and 2003 returns.

His ads also say Boggs McDonald has taken money from strip clubs, a sensitive subject as the federal investigation into an alleged money-for-votes scandal that has led to indictments of three former and one sitting county commissioner.

Goldwater, however, said he wants to focus on the issues. He has been one of the few local candidates to explicitly embrace a "slow growth" agenda for Southern Nevada.

"We're really trying to bring to light the difference between the two candidates," he said Wednesday. "One candidate wants to grow and one candidate wants to slow down growth."

Goldwater said his opponent's "enthusiasm for more development" stems from "the unbelievable amount of donations she's received."

Boggs McDonald, who was appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn in March to replace commissioner Mark James, fired back at the latest ads. She said the the default on the mortgage was rescinded, and she sold the same house for a healthy profit.

She now rents a home in the district because she had to move out quickly after the sale, did not want to make a snap decision on buying a new house, and wants to wait for the hot real estate market to cool down, Boggs McDonald said.

She said she has taken money from Pete Eliades, owner of the Olympic Garden strip club, but notes that Eliades has other businesses besides the club. She said she took money from the Davari family, which opened the now-shuttered Treasures club, but that contribution was $3,000 in a $1 million congressional race in 2002.

Boggs McDonald noted that she supported fining the owner of the Cheetahs strip club the largest such fine in the city's history.

"It's giving a partial picture of the story," Boggs McDonald said. "The things he doesn't want to focus on are things about his own record."

The charges, she said, show "the level of desperation that he is experiencing in this election. He is finding that Democrats as well as Republicans care about character."

She said among the other issues that have already been raised, Goldwater has had tax liens applied against his property.

"Never. That's my mother and father, my deceased father," Goldwater responded.

He acknowledged that the district election has become a mud fight.

" I wish we could get positive at the end of this race at least," Goldwater said. "Can you imagine if we had used the million dollars she has raised, the few hundred thousand dollars I have raised, to talk intelligently to voters? It is a sad commentary that it has come to this. I hope we can do better."