Bonaventura to face Gariano; Hampe, Plott will square off

Las Vegans chose regime change in the constable race in Tuesday's primary election.

After 12 years in office, Las Vegas Constable Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer lost his bid for a fourth term, falling to former state assemblyman and correctional officer John Bonaventura in the Democratic primary.

With all precincts reporting, Bonaventura snagged 43 percent of the vote to defeat the incumbent Gronauer, a retired Las Vegas police officer, and another Democratic challenger. Gronauer received 38 percent of the vote, followed by Antonio Holmes with 19 percent.

On the Republican side, Peter F. Gariano collected 62 percent of the vote, outlasting his primary opponent Michael L. Yepko, who received 38 percent.

Gariano worked in the Las Vegas constable's office from 1990 to 1999, when his position was eliminated.

The Las Vegas Township constable serves a four-year term and earns an annual salary of $103,456. The office is not funded by taxpayers but by fees from serving various orders from Las Vegas Justice Court, including arrest warrants, wage garnishments and evictions.

Bonaventura will face off against Gariano in the Nov. 2 general election.

The race to be the next constable for Boulder Township will pit Republican Steve Hampe against Independent American Party candidate Mike Plott.

Hampe, a retired Boulder City patrol officer, defeated five other Republican candidates in the primary with 53 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting. His closest challenger was Michael Penuelas, who got 17 percent of the vote.

Hampe and Plott will square off to take the place of former Boulder Township Constable Larry L. Markotay, who resigned in March after being charged in an incident at his ex-girlfriend's home and for drunken driving and fleeing the scene of an accident after a Feb. 22 crash in his duty vehicle.

Markotay appeared on the ballot but garnered just 5 percent of the vote.

There were no Democratic challengers.