Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Election 2014:

Q+A: Voters’ guide to the Clark County Commission

Three Clark County commissioners are running for another four-year term on the most powerful government body in Southern Nevada.

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Chris Giunchigliani

Incumbent Democrats Chris Giunchigliani, Susan Brager and Mary Beth Scow are expected to cruise to re-election. None of them faces a serious challenger, and they hold commanding fundraising advantages.

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Susan Brager

Each of their Republican challengers has little name recognition and no experience in elected office. A Republican hasn’t been elected to the seven-member board in 10 years.

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Commissioner Mary Beth Scow speaks during a meeting of the Las Vegas Valley Water District Board Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.

Here’s a voter’s guide for the Clark County commission races in the Nov. 4 election:

What does a county commissioner do?

The commission's power comes from the size of its annual budget ($6.2 billion) and the scope of its responsibilities.

Most importantly, commissioners oversee real estate development, fire service, law enforcement and regulations on the Las Vegas Strip and for 900,000 residents.

The commission also has oversight of McCarran International Airport and University Medical Center, two key civic resources.

Who are the candidates?

Chris Giunchigliani is one of the commission’s more liberal members. She opposed a sales tax increase to pay for more police officers as too regressive. She’s also been vocal about finding dedicated funding for UMC. Giunchigliani is running for her third term representing District E, which covers the central valley including the northern parts of the Strip and portions of Las Vegas. Her opponent, Joe Thibodeau, is a retired carpenter who spent 23 years working as an inspector for the Clark County Building Department.

Susan Brager made headlines as the swing vote during last year’s debate opposing a sales tax increase for police. Brager championed a smaller tax increase but couldn’t find enough support to get it passed. Brager is seeking a third term representing District F, which includes the southwest valley and parts of Summerlin.

Running against Brager is Mitchell Tracy. He earned 37 percent of the vote when he ran against Brager in 2010. Two third-party candidates, Jason Smith and Lyal Darrel, are also on the District F ballot.

Mary Beth Scow’s district includes part of the Strip, and she’s been active trying to improve the pedestrian experience in the area. She's supported initiatives to clean up Strip sidewalks, remove newsracks and ban glass bottles.

Scow was first elected in 2010 to represent District G, which also includes portions of Henderson and Boulder City. Scow’s challenger is Cindy Lake, a real estate agent who spent a year as the chairwoman of the Clark County Republican Party before being voted out in 2013.

What are the major issues?

Much of the campaign season talking points have come down to how much money the county brings in and how it spends those tax dollars.

Commissioners didn’t pass the sales tax increase to hire more police officers, but Brager, Scow and Giunchigliani voted in favor of a gas tax increase to pay for road construction.

Brager and Giunchigliani said fixing UMC, launching a UNLV medical school, and continuing investments in roads and other public infrastructure are top priorities. But doing so will likely require increased funding. Giunchigliani said she wants to work with state leaders to tweak the tax system to bring more money to local governments.

Brager said she’s open to revisiting the sales tax discussion if it would lead to new police officers being hired. But she won’t support the full increase that was floated last year, which would have boosted the sales tax from 8.1 percent to 8.25 percent.

Challengers have targeted the commissioners for what they consider wasteful spending and votes to increase the gas tax and water rates. Another target of criticism is a 2013 change to the county’s trash service that decreased the frequency of garbage pickup and boosted recycling pickups. Brager and Scow voted in favor of the change.

How’s the race shaping up?

The races have been relatively quiet. None of the candidates has campaigned much, and there have been no attack ads.

Giunchigliani, Brager and Scow are commanding favorites. Each has raised more than $300,000 this year. They’ve sewn up support from the region’s major political players, including Strip casinos, taxi companies, utilities and real estate developers.

The three cruised to primary victories with margins of victory ranging from 30 percentage points for Susan Brager to 74 percentage points for Giunchigliani.

Among the challengers, Lake leads the way with $4,545 raised. Thibodeau and Tracy have each raised less than $1,000, according to the most recent campaign reports.

Correction: This story was revised to say that Cindy Lake is a real estate agent. Her title had been misstated.

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