Ross wants to debate Fiore ahead of Las Vegas City Council runoff election
Two days after Michele Fiore and Kelli Ross locked up spots on a June general election ballot , Ross’ campaign called for a series of debates in the coming weeks.
Two Las Vegas City Council races will be decided in June runoffs, as Councilman Bob Beers fights for another term and Fiore and Ross square off in Ward 6.
Beers will face Steve Seroka, a retired Air Force colonel, on June 13, after drawing just shy of 43 percent of primary votes, or 2,586, to Seroka’s 1,731, which was close to 29 percent of the roughly 6,000 votes cast for Tuesday’s primary election in Ward 2. Christina Roush was close behind Seroka, with 1,592 votes.
In Ward 4, Councilman Stavros Anthony delivered a drubbing Tuesday to earn his third and final City Council term. He pulled in 74 percent of the 6,400 votes cast. His challengers Deborah Harris, Sean Lyttle and Jon Edge drew 13 percent, 11 percent and 2 percent of the votes, respectively.
Fiore, a former Nevada assemblywoman, led a field of nine candidates in northwest Las Vegas Ward 6 by getting 46 percent of the vote. Had she pulled in more than half of the votes cast, Fiore would have sealed a victory in the primary.
Ross, who hopes to succeed her term-limited husband Steve Ross, drew nearly 31 percent of votes.
The other seven candidates were knocked out in the primary. Clark County School District Trustee Chris Garvey came in third, with 12 percent of the vote. Ryan Alarid, Matthew Consoli, Joel Jarvis, Allen Jordan, Reid Rasner and Thaddeus Ynigues all drew single-digit vote percentages.
The Ross campaign on Thursday issued a challenge to Fiore for six town hall-style debates before the June runoff, based on unscripted questions from Ward 6 voters.
The Ross and Fiore campaigns sparred on Thursday, with Ross contending in a statement that Fiore should answer to her “less than appropriate actions as a former elected official.”
“The fact is, she is clearly uncomfortable talking about issues she doesn’t understand,” Ross’ campaign. “What’s worse, she simply can’t explain her many years of hateful rhetoric away so easily in a public forum.”
In response, Fiore’s campaign issued a statement to the Review-Journal Thursday afternoon that said she’s “happy to debate” but her priority remains meeting with voters.
The Fiore statement charges that Ross’ aim is to create a “family dynasty” on the City Council and called her “ethically challenged,” referring to a 2014 lawsuit against Ross over her election to the Whisper Creek Owners’ Association board that said she misrepresented herself as an owner. Ross ultimately stepped down from that post.
“Unlike my opponent, accessibility isn’t something I start to care about when I need a boost in the polls, it is something I practice everyday,” Fiore said.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.
Las Vegas municipal election primary results
After an initial update Tuesday evening with early and mailed votes, results were slow to come in.
Las Vegas for the first time held voting at 15 centers around the city, allowing voters to cast their ballots at any location. Previously, voters were assigned polling places.
In past elections, the Clark County Election Department results page showed how many precincts were reporting as votes tallies were posted. With the move to vote centers, that information was not delineated in the same place, so improving how that's communicated before the June 13 general election is something Las Vegas City Clerk LuAnn Holmes wants to work on.
"We introduced a new concept. The entire valley went to vote centers," Holmes said.
Some people also went to their neighborhood polling place, rather than a voting center. The city will need to get more creative for the general election to continue to get the word out about the voting center setup, Holmes said.
Primary election results are official after next week's City Council canvass.
