Thursday, Jan. 16, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A $1.5 million battle between well-connected incumbent Paul Christensen and well-heeled newcomer Lance Malone for the District C Clark County Commission seat has raised the bar on campaign contributions for local elections.
It also provides fuel for the campaign finance reform debate expected to be in the spotlight at the 1997 Legislature that begins Monday, since both candidates benefited from legal loopholes in campaign finance laws.
No other commission race came close to the amount spent on the District C race, and only gubernatorial and congressional races have been more costly.
The $306,000 in Republican Party donations that Malone raised will likely dominate legislative debate, since the secretary of state and several lawmakers are calling for closing that loophole.
Malone has accepted the fact that the party donations -- which account for 42 percent of the $723,000 he raised -- make him the poster child for campaign finance reform.
"I'm not afraid of it and know that I'm going to be," Malone said. "Any time people talk about campaign finance reform, I'm going to see my name associated with it."
He applauded Secretary of State Dean Heller for seeking to change state law that now allows anonymous donations through political parties.
"This has been an ongoing practice," Malone said. "I'm not the first person to benefit from it, but maybe through Heller's efforts I'll be the last."
Malone defended the party donations as a political necessity for a newcomer like him to keep on an even footing with a seasoned political pro such as Christensen, who received most of his $811,437 before the Oct. 17 start of the final reporting period.
"I just want the reforms to be fair for people who want to get involved in government," Malone said. "If I didn't have the Republican Party backing me, I would not have had an equal footing."
As for allegations that most of the money was funneled through the party from Sands owner Sheldon Adelson, Malone said, "I have never seen Sheldon Adelson hand me a check, other than the $70,000 he gave me."
Campaign reports indicate that at least $84,000 is traceable to Adelson.
Republican officials said they realized the race would be close and wanted to help Malone so they could gain a third seat on the commission, one of the most powerful political bodies in the state.
Malone wouldn't mind being an example of campaign reform if critics would stop overlooking a finance loophole that allowed his opponent to collect more than $100,000 from gaming mogul Bill Bennett and $40,000 from developer Jim Rhodes.
The corporate limit on campaign contributions is $10,000, but through a method called bundling, businessman can give more than that amount through various dummy corporations.
"They fail to mention the bundling effect," Malone said. "They need to look at that if they're going to make finance reform complete. That's another major issue they're not looking at."
The campaign reports show that Malone received more than half of his contributions -- $342,000 -- during the last reporting period, which covers Oct. 17 to Dec. 21. After the election, Malone received $117,724 -- $78,724 of which came from gaming companies that were silent before the election.
Christensen received no money after the election, proving the old axiom that the victor makes a lot of new friends the day after.
In other commission races, incumbent Republican Commissioner Bruce Woodbury only received $36,580 during the final reporting period for his re-election to District A, for a total of $588,570, while incumbent Democrat Yvonne Atkinson Gates received $26,615 in the final reporting period for her re-election to District D, for a total of $460,795.
Reports were not available for Mary Kincaid, who won the District B seat formerly held by Jay Bingham. Bingham declined to seek re-election.
The reports also disprove the political axiom that early money wins the race. Christensen raised most of his money by Oct. 16, outspent Malone by $240,000 and still lost to the Metro traffic officer.
The largest expense for both was TV advertising. Christensen spent $295,000 to Malone's $210,000. Both spent the second highest amount on direct mail -- $135,000 for Christensen and $94,000 for Malone. Christensen also spent more than $100,000 on consultants, while Malone spent $81,000.
The reports also show that Christensen went into debt on his campaign, spending $31,000 more than he raised, while Malone had $124,000 left over, giving him a healthy headstart if he decides to run again in 2000.
Malone attributes that difference to his walking the district day and night, knocking on doors and delivering fliers to voters.
"For people planning on running down the road, this shows you don't have to have the money and still be competitive," Malone said. "I really believe it was the door-to-door that pulled us up and over."
Malone plans to use some of the surplus to send newsletters to constituents over the next four years so he doesn't waste taxpayers' money.
In other races, Democrat Valerie Wiener enjoyed a $140,000 boost from the Culinary Union in her bid to defeat incumbent Republican Sue Lowden, part-owner of a casino that has been involved in a protracted labor dispute.
Supreme Court Justice Cliff Young, who defeated Clark County Family Court Judge Steve Jones, collected $484,703 during the election. Some hefty contributions came in after the election, including $5,000 each from Bally's, Las Vegas attorney John Moran Jr. and the Sahara hotel-casino.
Young lent his campaign $123,169 and reported spending $452,722, leaving him a surplus of $32,000.
Supreme Court Justice Bill Maupin reported $304,345 in contributions, including $26,000 of his own money. He spent $276,341.
Las Vegas attorney Ken Hall, who ran unsuccessfully against then-District Judge Maupin, collected only $1,636, including $786 of his own money.
SUN CAPITAL BUREAU Chief Cy Ryan contributed to this story.
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