Democrats take control of county commission

By Brian Eckhouse

Published Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 | 8:54 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 | 12:22 a.m.

The Democrats now have complete control of the county commission, as their incumbents held serve and newcomers Steve Sisolak and Larry Brown grabbed the two remaining seats.

In District A, Sisolak defeated Republican Brian Scroggins 47.6 percent to 46.2 percent. Brown, a Las Vegas city councilman, easily captured District C, eclipsing state Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, 57.4 percent to 38.3 percent.

Scroggins and Sisolak vied for the seat long held by Bruce Woodbury, a county commissioner for 27 years. Woodbury is widely considered one of the most respected public officials the valley has seen in that period. He sought a new term, but the state Supreme Court ruled last summer that term limits precluded him from continuing on as a commissioner.

Sisolak, 54, is a member of the Board of Regents and a wealthy business consultant. He spent at least $500,000 in his campaign against the 45-year-old Scroggins, who owns a sign-making business, in the race for County Commission District A. That district encompasses parts of Henderson, Las Vegas and Mesquite, as well as Boulder City and Laughlin.

Woodbury, who mostly avoided partisan politics, backed Scroggins, arguing the commission needed balance.

“I wouldn’t want it to be seven Republicans and zero Democrats, either,” Woodbury told the Sun last month.

In 1999, Sisolak successfully argued for more per-student funding for Southern Nevada campuses last month, and three years later he called for an investigation into the “exorbitant” consulting contracts at Nevada State College in Henderson.

In other races, incumbent Democrats Tom Collins and Lawrence Weekly coasted to re-election. Collins secured 67.2 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Gary Hosea and Libertarian Debra Payne-Dedmon. Weekly won 83.8 percent to Tom McGowan’s 16.2 percent.

--Sun reporter Amanda Finnegan contributed to this report.