Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.
Assemblyman Tom Collins emerged from the five-way scramble for the Clark County Commission District B seat, beating out a two-term incumbent who was hurt badly by a federal indictment made public 14 months ago.
Incumbent Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who won re-election four years ago with more than 63 percent of the vote, was indicted on federal charges of public corruption, one step in a long-running investigation into the commission's relationship with a strip-club chain owned by Michael Galardi.
The allegations that Kincaid-Chauncey and three former county commissioners traded votes for money and favors forced Kincaid-Chauncey to resign her seat as the chairwoman of the seven-person board, but she vowed to remain on the commission and seek re-election. She says she is innocent.
Four other Democrats filed for her seat in the wake of the indictment.
The Democratic field, along with Kincaid-Chauncey, included Assembly member Vonne Chowning and Collins, Democrats who have split the endorsements of various unions. The other Democratic candidates were John Stevens, an assistant reference librarian, and John Bonaventura, a one-term assemblyman who served in the early 1990s.
Collins took 41.5 percent of the vote, with 4,505 votes. Bonaventura came in second in the race with 22.3 percent and 2,421 votes, apparently capitalizing on the name recognition provided by his uncle, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.
Chowning took 12.4 percent and 1,350 votes, and John Stephens, an assistant librarian, pulled 6.2 percent with 668 votes.
Kincaid-Chauncey owns a North Las Vegas flower shop. Collins is an electrical contractor. Chowning is a real estate agent.
On the Republican side, North Las Vegas Councilwoman Shari Buck, easily defeated Grant Claycomb, a Clark County construction inspector for Clark County government, and Glen Easter, a community activist perhaps best known for his recall effort against former North Las Vegas Councilwoman Paula Brown.
Buck won 70.5 percent with 5,141 votes. Claybomb won 15.1 percent with 1,106 and Easter took 14.3 percent with 1,043.
At North Las Vegas polling sites, the divided nature of the Democratic field contrasted strongly with Buck's unified support.
Many of those who came to the polls, like medical claims adjuster Melena Florence, brought their union endorsements. She had trouble remembering Collins' name, but no problem recalling Kincaid-Chauncey's legal problems.
"Considering what's going on right now, she's been indicted," Florence said.
Not everybody considered the indictment a disqualifying factor, however. Jean Paul Paquet, a casino worker, said he did not consider Kincaid-Chauncey's alleged illegal support for a strip club operator a black mark.
"Strip clubs mean jobs," he said.
Before the primary, Kincaid-Chauncey said the outcome of the election rested on a higher authority.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's in God's hands," she said several weeks before the election.
Buck could have a tough time overcoming a strong Democratic registration lead. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district 37,503 to 27,649, with more than 15,000 nonpartisan and smaller party active registered voters.
The district is a labor stronghold. The government and health workers union, the Service Employees International Union, has already endorsed Collins. The Laborers endorsed Chowning, but have said they will endorse Collins if he won. Culinary, the county's largest labor union, has so far held back any endorsement.
Kincaid-Chauncey, who gathered with friends and family Tuesday night, said she does not yet know if she will endorse Collins, or jump party lines to support Buck.
"I was very disappointed in the negative campaigning" of Collins, she said. "I will have to talk with him before I decide."
The SEIU, Collins supporters, sent out several pamphlets targeting Kincaid-Chauncey and the charges against her. Kincaid-Chauncey said they were indicative of a campaign of "insinuation and innuendo" that violated a pledge from Collins, Chowning and Kincaid-Chauncey to avoid negative campaigning.
While the election may have ended a 25-year career in politics, Kincaid-Chauncey said she will turn her attention to charities that help children and her church.
"I guess this is what God had in mind," she said. "It seems like he has other things planned for me.
"I tried to win, but I knew the odds were against me when I went into it. I suspect my tag line will always be 'indicted commissioner.' "
Kincaid-Chauncey, who continues to asset her innocence on the federal charges, said the election loss is unlikely to affect her legal situation.
Another political career that may have ended, or at least experienced a serious derailing, was Chowning's. Chowning, a seven-term assemblywoman, said she will now "spend much-needed time with my family and my business that I have neglected for a long time."
"I love selling real estate," she said. "I'll of course still be involved in the community. I've very proud of the strong record I have.
"I have no regrets. I really have enjoyed it. I knew when I decided to take this on that it was going to be a big race."
Chowning, like Kincaid-Chauncey, said she would not immediately endorse Collins following the fractious Democratic primary. During the closing weeks of the campaign, Chowning focused attention on Collins' decade-old legal problems and on Collins' given first name, Clarence.
"I'm going to talk to my supporters," Chowning said. "I am not going to make any statement, any decision now on Mr. Clarence Collins."
Collins said he doesn't want the campaign for the general election to focus on negatives.
"We're going to focus on winning this election," he said. "We will respond to any attacks if they deserve it. I think Shari Buck has more respect for the system than to be a negative campaigner."
Buck said she knows that it will be a tough campaign.
"We know what we need to do as far as telling the voters in District B who I am and what I've done," she said. "We're going to concentrate on showing the voters why I'm the best candidate and the good part of that is that a lot of them already know me because of serving in North Las Vegas."
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