Few voters expected on Tuesday

Early voting is up in Henderson and North Las Vegas, the two Southern Nevada cities that have mayoral races on the ballot.

Las Vegas, with just two City Council seats and a judgeship on the ballot, has far fewer early voters than it had four years ago.

Early voting for the municipal primary races ended Friday.

Polls will be open Tuesday for city council, mayoral and municipal judge positions.

But there are no congressional, statewide or legislative races or ballot measures to draw out voters in big numbers.

Even the increased turnout in two cities is unlikely to prevent another low-turnout election.

In 2005 and 2007, election-day turnout closely tracked the number of early voters. If that continues this year, the results with mail-in ballots will be around 50,000 voters, or a turnout of less than 11 percent of registered voters.

That would be lower than in 2007, when overall voter turnout was 15 percent, but higher than in 2005, with 7.6 percent turnout.

"The ones with mayoral races, their turnout is better than it has been in other areas," Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said.

"The one that's way down is Las Vegas. In four of six wards, all that's on the ballot is that municipal judge race."

That would be the Las Vegas Municipal Court Department 1 race, which has incumbent Cynthia Leung against Colby Beck and Bruce Gale. Like most judicial races, it has been a low-key affair.

In Ward 4, voters have six choices to fill an open Las Vegas City Council seat: Stavros Anthony, Sam Christos, Gary Hosea, Yvonne Karim, Teresa Price and Glenn Trowbridge. The top two finishers will advance to the general election.

The race was seen early on as a referendum on the city's redevelopment process, including the proposed construction of a new City Hall that has been strongly opposed by the Culinary union.

There's also a feisty competition in the Ward 6 race between Steve Ross, the incumbent, and challenger and longtime Ross critic Jennifer L. Taylor. A third candidate filed but withdrew from the race early. The winner will be decided Tuesday.

Taylor has criticized Ross for allowing the northwest ward to grow much too quickly.

Ross, the clear leader in campaign spending, has responded that he has made sure that home development has come with infrastructure and the amenities people expect.

Henderson, meanwhile, is having its most expensive mayoral race ever, with five people trying to replace the term-limited Jim Gibson. They are Amanda Cyphers, Andy Hafen, Steve Kirk, Michael Mayberry and Richard Charles Sipan.

Six people want Henderson's Ward 3 seat: Kathleen Boutin, Brandon Casutt, Bruce Cutler, Jim Dunn, Jason Frayer and Cathy Rosenfield.

The candidates have focused on the recession and the worst fiscal crisis the city has faced.

And in Municipal Court Department 2, incumbent Douglas Hedger faces a challenge from Matthew Zobrist.

North Las Vegas' mayoral race also has drawn five contenders: Shari Buck, John "3:16" Cook, William Robinson, Stephanie Smith and Ned P. Thomas.

Robert Eliason is trying to keep his Ward 1 council seat against two challengers, Rolando Cruz and Jeffrey Eggeman.

The Ward 3 seat is a contest among Felix Acevedo Jr., Angelo Carvalho, John Kelso, Mike Little, Kimberly McKinney and Anita Wood.

And for North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Department 2, incumbent Sean Hoeffgen is up against Christopher Cannon and Marsha Kimble-Simms.

For sheer numbers, Boulder City takes the top spot.

Ten candidates are on the list for two at-large council seats: Tim Clifford, Chris Gatlin, Matt Di Teresa, Duncan McCoy, Anthony Pakula, Jim Reed, Joe Roche, John Schleppegrell, Bill Smith and Cam Walker.

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