Tarkanian petition expected today

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005 | 9:26 a.m.

Former Clark County School Board member Lois Tarkanian this morning was expected to turn in the petitions to be on the ballot as a challenger in Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief's recall election.

Tarkanian said Monday she will deliver petitions bearing more than enough valid signatures. To qualify for the the ballot, she needs 2,106 signatures of registered voters from Las Vegas' Ward 1.

"We'll turn in approximately 3,000 (signatures), and we have validated about 2,800, so we have a cushion in two ways," Tarkanian said Monday.

After being turned in to the city clerk, the petitions will go to the County Election Department for verification.

If successful, Tarkanian would join Vicki Quinn, and advocate for the disabled, and Moncrief on the Jan. 25 ballot.

Potential candidates have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to turn in their candidate nominating petitions, and accept their candidacies.

Peter "Chris" Christoff, a longtime government critic, had said he hoped to appear on the ballot too. But on Monday, Christoff said he won't have enough signatures by the Wednesday deadline. Christoff said he has 1,400 to 1,500 signatures on his petition.

Quinn and Tarkanian have been the two most high-profile potential challengers to Moncrief in recent weeks. Quinn also has the backing of the group of neighbors who successfully petitioned to force the recall election.

Moncrief's political opponents have criticized the first-term councilwoman for failing to block unwanted development in their neighborhood, and cited pending charges for allegedly filing false campaign finance reports, as reasons for their desire to remove her from office.

Moncrief maintains that she is not guilty and also says that she has done all she could to protect her constituents from development they oppose.