Anthony wins council seat with 10 votes to spare

By Jinae West

Published Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | 7:48 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | 10:35 p.m.

Stavros Anthony defeated Glenn Trowbridge by the closest of margins Tuesday night in their run for the Ward 4 seat on the Las Vegas City Council.

It came down to 10 votes, with 6,608 votes cast. With all precincts reporting, Anthony took 3,309 votes, or 50.08 percent, compared to 3,299 votes, or 49.92 percent, for Trowbridge.

Anthony said he was happy with the outcome.

"It was a close race and a good night," he said. "The voters came out, and I hope to represent them well."

Trowbridge said Tuesday night that he would seek a recount.

"It's a tie, frankly," he said. "With 10 votes, it's just too close, and there are still mail-in ballots that haven't been counted."

Nevada laws permit a losing candidate to pay for a recount of votes from three precincts. The request can't be made before the official vote canvass and must come within three working days after the canvass.

Computers normally tally the votes from the electronic voting machines. For a recount, paper copies from the machines are printed and counted manually, along with the absentee mail-in votes, Clark County registrar Larry Lomax said.

Trowbridge, chairman of the Las Vegas Planning Commission, has lived in Las Vegas for more than 30 years. He was the personnel director for Clark County for seven years and worked in the county's parks and recreation bureau for 17 years before retiring in 2001. He focused his campaign message on balancing the county budget and keeping priorities in check to eliminate wasteful spending.

Anthony, a Metro Police captain and twice-elected member of the Nevada Board of Regents, emphasized decreasing crime during his campaign, noting his 28 years in law enforcement. He holds a doctorate in sociology from UNLV.

Additionally, one of the most prominent issues in both candidates' campaigns was city hall construction, which Anthony was set against. Trowbridge supported the proposal because he said it wouldn't involve raising property taxes.

In the weeks leading up to the election, both candidates exchanged negative comments. Anthony's campaign called Trowbridge "a puppet in a pocket" of the police union. In return, Trowbridge referred to Anthony as a "desperate" candidate.

Asked what he planned to do next, Anthony said: "I'm going to sleep in and enjoy myself tomorrow and then get ready to go to city council and represent Ward 4."

In the primary, Trowbridge beat Anthony by 8 points but failed to win more than 50 percent of the vote, which triggered Tuesday's general election.

The seat was previously held by Larry Brown before he was elected to the Clark County Commission.