Little heard in early voting

Early voting ended Friday with a whimper, with a mere 7.6 percent of Clark County's eligible registered voters casting ballots.

For all you not-so-eager voters who didn't get around to it: No worries, you have one more chance.

The municipal general election is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite.

A combined 21,201 people, of 277,253 who were eligible, voted early.

Historically, voter turnout for municipal elections tends to be low. In 2007's general election, 11.6 percent of the county's eligible registered voters cast ballots, with the highest turnout by percentage in the smaller cities of Boulder City and Mesquite.

LAS VEGAS

This year, Las Vegas has a single council race left to be decided in the general election, with two people competing for the Ward 4 seat.

Glenn Trowbridge and Stavros Anthony will face off after emerging from a six-person field in the primary earlier this year.

Trowbridge used to head the Clark County Personnel Department and the Parks and Recreation Department and is now a Las Vegas planning commissioner.

Anthony is a 29-year veteran of the police force and a university regent.

A proposed new City Hall and, by extension, downtown redevelopment has been a key part of the election conversation, with Trowbridge standing in favor of both while Anthony cautions that the city should be more concerned with cutting costs than embarking on improvement projects.

Anthony has been pitching himself as an independent outsider, while Trowbridge talks of his knowledge of a system he is willing to challenge if needed.

Overall, the two men have spent about the same amount of money this year: $192,191 raised and $213,540 spent by Anthony and $195,692 raised and $202,901 spent by Trowbridge. Both men began campaigning and fundraising last year.

In the most recent period of March 27 through May 21, though, Trowbridge has surged, raising $115,314 and spending $119,689, compared with Stavros' totals of $56,555 and $72,331.

HENDERSON

Henderson voters will pick a successor to popular, term-limited Mayor Jim Gibson.

City Councilmen Andy Hafen and Steve Kirk are vying for the post in a race that grew increasingly ugly as Election Day approached.

It also has been the most expensive municipal campaign Henderson has ever seen, with Kirk spending more than $456,000, Hafen spending almost $313,000, and both men making an unprecedented foray into television ads.

Hafen, 55, and Kirk, 50, have served together on the council for the past 10 years, and they will continue to serve together after votes have been tallied. The winner will become mayor, and the loser will serve out the last two years of his council term.

In the city's other race, voters will pick between Kathleen Boutin, 41, and Cathy Rosenfield, 50, to replace term-limited City Councilman Jack Clark in Ward 3.

Based on the sizes of the two campaigns, Rosenfield is the underdog. She has spent about $10,500 on her run, while Boutin has shelled out more than $229,000, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.

NORTH LAS VEGAS

North Las Vegas has three races on the ballot: mayor, Ward 3 on the City Council and a municipal judgeship.

For mayor, voters will choose between Shari Buck, 48, who is in the middle of her third term on the City Council, and William Robinson, 69, who is in his seventh term and serves as the city's mayor pro tem.

Both candidates have acknowledged they do not differ greatly on most city issues.

But Robinson has said he is the more fiscally responsible of the two, having lobbied for postponing plans for a new water treatment facility in the city.

Buck has said that she is the "new face" of the city, and she has pointed to controversy over a recently unearthed, 15-year-old FBI corruption investigation into Robinson as evidence that she would make the more trustworthy leader. No charges were filed in that case.

Buck has outspent Robinson on campaigning, with $440,580 in campaign expenditures, compared with Robinson's $374,158.

In the council race, Angelo Carvalho, 41, a small-business owner who leads the city Planning Commission, faces Anita Wood, 45, a politically active, stay-at-home mom.

For Municipal Court Department 2, incumbent Judge Sean Hoeffgen, 40, will take on local attorney Marsha Kimble-Simms, 48.

OTHER CITIES

Boulder City voters will fill one open seat on the City Council.

The race pits former Las Vegas Monorail manager Cam Walker, 42, against former City Councilman Bill Smith, 83.

The community of about 17,000 people will consider six ballot questions, most of them housekeeping changes to the city charter.

In Mesquite, six candidates, three of them incumbents, are in the running for three at-large seats on the City Council.

Councilmen Robert "Bubba" Smith, Karl Gustaveson and Bill Wells will square off against challengers Donna Fairchild, W.G. "Geno" Withelder and Charles "Charlie" Sellner.

Mesquite is governed by five City Council members and a mayor who casts votes only to break ties.

Review-Journal reporters Henry Brean, Alan Choate and Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.