Court order blocks North Las Vegas Ward 4 winner

A judge on Thursday threw yet another wrench into the effort to name an official winner in a disputed North Las Vegas City Council race.

District Judge Douglas Smith granted a temporary restraining order that prohibits the city from presenting Wade Wagner with an election certificate in the Ward 4 race.

Wagner, a 48-year-old dentist, defeated incumbent Richard Cherchio, 64, in the June 7 election by a single vote.

But after election officials discovered that an ineligible voter might have participated in the election, the council opted not to canvass the results for Ward 4 and agreed to redo the election in one precinct on July 19.

Then District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales last week ruled that the city must certify the race and couldn't hold a special election.

The City Council was scheduled to canvass the election, swear-in Wagner and present a certificate of election at a special meeting Thursday afternoon.

The council could do no more than canvass the election because of the latest court order.

"Obviously we have a little setback here," Wagner said earlier Thursday. "It looks like a delay tactic."

He did not attend the council meeting.

A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Tuesday.

Cherchio, who also didn't attend the meeting, issued a statement saying the restraining order was "necessary to ensure that we get the election result right."

Issuing an election certificate "when it's not certain who the winner is would be a disservice to the citizens of North Las Vegas, who now more than ever need the right leadership."

Cherchio also said he will seek a recount. He must do so within three business days of the canvass and will have to pay $600 to fund the recount, according to the city.

"Until that process plays out, no one candidate has the legitimate right to represent and act on behalf of Ward 4 voters," he said.

Todd Bice, an attorney for Wagner, said he couldn't see what "plausible grounds there would be for not issuing a certificate."

He was confident Judge Smith will "deal with this rather quickly once the court finds out what really transpired" in front of Gonzales last week.

Mayor Shari Buck recused herself from voting on the canvass because her husband worked for Wagner's campaign.

Councilwoman Anita Wood again explained why she had supported re­doing the election. State law requires a government to deal with clerical errors discovered during an election to ensure the outcome reflects the true vote cast, she said.

Because she didn't know what the true result was, she couldn't canvass the election, she said.

The court order left her no choice, she said.

Wagner said he's anxious to get to work as the city's new Ward 4 representative.

"We'll just have to let the attorneys work this out."

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at
lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.