Council member re-elected

At 8:53 p.m. Tuesday, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman called Steve Ross, the sitting councilman for Ward 6, to offer his best wishes on his re-election.

Ross and his supporters, however, were still sweating it out looking at election returns in his well-lit but crowded kitchen.

"He called to say, 'Congratulations,'" Ross said. "I said, 'This one's not over yet.' He said, 'Fuhgeddaboudit.'"

Turns out the mayor was right. In complete but unofficial returns, Ross had 55 percent to Jennifer L. Taylor's 45 percent, ending a rancorous and competitive race that had each candidate questioning the other's commitment to the neighborhood and public service.

"Thank you all very much," Ross said to supporters after the final numbers were reported. "We did it! Son of a gun."

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, two candidates emerged from a field of six people looking to fill the open Ward 4 seat.

Stavros Anthony and Glenn Trowbridge, who led the field in name recognition and fundraising, are headed to a runoff in the general election June 2.

With all precincts reporting, Trowbridge had 45 percent of the votes, with Anthony slightly behind at 37 percent. None of the other candidates polled above 10 percent.

It was the result both candidates expected.

"With six candidates, we knew it was going to go to the general," Trowbridge said.

"We start all over again tomorrow," Anthony said, "at square one."

Both said they would be seeking support from the four other candidates in the race but said those talks have not started yet.

In the only contested Las Vegas municipal judge race, incumbent Cynthia Leung won the election outright in Department 1. She had 66 percent of the vote, with two challengers splitting the remaining votes about evenly.

Ward 2 Councilman Steve Wolfson also was up for re-election this year but was not on the ballot because he had no opponent.

Also unopposed and automatically re-elected to office were municipal Judges Bert Brown in Department 4 and Marty Hastings in Department 6.

In the Ward 6 race, Taylor tried to paint Ross as a compromised elected official who had broken promises to voters.

Ross' job as secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Council was held up as evidence that he was beholden to union and construction interests, and Taylor criticized the current city leadership for not doing enough to encourage quality growth or job diversity.

Ross disputed all of the contentions, pointing to infrastructure improvements that accompanied growth and to requirements that would-be developers meet with people in the community. He also tried to tar Taylor with the development brush, saying her work as an attorney was on behalf of developers and insurance companies, an allegation Taylor fiercely rejected.

She demanded an apology from Ross, and Ross reiterated Tuesday night that none would be forthcoming.

Taylor did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.

"I certainly didn't count my chickens before the eggs were hatched," Ross said. "Ward 6 is such a diverse group of voters.

"My opponent's campaign, she had no plan. All she did was continuously call me a liar. That's not much of a campaign."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.