Adamsen outspends, outpolls challengers, wins it in primary

      Las Vegas Councilman Arnie Adamsen staved off an election challenge from three persistent but underfunded challengers Tuesday, and will return to City Hall for a third term.
      The Ward 2 councilman received 51 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary, narrowly avoiding a June runoff election. He needed more than 50 percent to win the election outright.
      "I'm elated," Adamsen said after the final results were tallied. "I'm going to continue to represent my ward, moving forward and trying to improve the quality of life. I just want to thank the voters of Ward 2 for their confidence and continued support."
      Trailing Adamsen were retired foreign service officer Chuck Umnuss with 24 percent, community activist Sue Brna with 18 percent, and Huntridge Theatre operator Richard Lenz with 7 percent.
      Adamsen has been in office since 1987 and is the council's longest-serving member. His campaign war chest of more than $300,000 simply overwhelmed his opponents, who raised about $30,000 between them.
      Adamsen spent more than $50,000 on staff, $31,000 on consultants, and $38,000 on direct mail. He said he also had more than 200 volunteers working on his campaign.
      Adamsen emphasized the need to control Las Vegas Valley's explosive growth and diversify its economy by attracting high-tech Asian businesses. He also is leading an effort to build a high-speed train that would run between Las Vegas and Southern California.
      His opponents, strapped for cash, waged grass-roots, door-to-door campaigns. They criticized Adamsen for growth-related problems such as traffic congestion and air pollution, and said the councilman has focused his attention abroad rather than on his ward.
      Umnuss, a former accountant and U.S. State Department foreign service officer in Panama, tried to rally senior citizens in Sun City to his campaign for slower, more controlled growth. An opponent of the Summerlin West project, Umnuss said the city and county should stop approving "leapfrog" developments -- projects that do not adjoin existing homes and require new roads and sewers.
      Adamsen in January voted to approve Summerlin West, which will bring 20,250 new homes, five golf courses and two casinos to the edge of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
      Brna's No. 1 issue was traffic. She actively opposed a plan to expand U.S. Highway 95 to 10 lanes, which in January was approved by the council in a 4-1 vote.
      Brna also supported a new monorail to transport people from western Las Vegas to their jobs downtown and on the Strip.
      Lenz, who runs the Huntridge Performing Arts Theatre, criticized Adamsen for what he said is wasteful city spending. He called on Adamsen to drop the so-called Sister Cities program, under which the councilman makes several trips to Asia each year in an attempt to attract high-tech businesses to Las Vegas.
      But Adamsen said the valley needs to expand its economic base in case the gaming industry takes a downswing.
      The voter turnout in Ward 2 was only 17 percent, according to the Las Vegas city clerk's office.