Possible illegal ballot found in Ward 4 race for city council seat

A candidate in a closely contested North Las Vegas City Council race said Sunday the discovery of a ballot that may be illegal calls into question who won the Ward 4 seat.

Ward 4 incumbent Richard Cherchio, who lost Tuesday's election by one vote, said officials are now deciding what to do next.

"I have been notified by the city and the Clark County elections department that a voter cast an illegal ballot in the North Las Vegas City Council Ward 4 election," he said Sunday in a statement. "The city and the elections department are in the process of determining the most appropriate way to proceed as prescribed by law. Until they let me know what their recommendation is, there is nothing more that I can say at this time."

Cherchio lost his seat to Wade Wagner, 48, who according to results garnered 1,831 votes to Cherchio's 1,830 votes.

Clark County election officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Cherchio, 64, said after the election he planned to seek a recount. Cherchio's campaign manager, Bradley Mayer, has said an attorney has been retained who "will be running point on the proceedings."

Cherchio can't request a recount until after the election results are canvassed by the City Council, something that's scheduled for Wednesday.

Wagner, reached by phone Sunday afternoon, said neither election officials nor the North Las Vegas city attorney's office had contacted him yet regarding the matter.

"I've heard some things, but just like everybody else, we're waiting for all the facts," Wagner said.

The Ward 4 race was the second nail-biter of the election season for North Las Vegas. In the primary for the Ward 2 council seat, two candidates tied for second place with 328 votes each. Linda Meisenheimer, 49, later won a card draw and advanced to the general election, where she faced Pamela Goynes-Brown.

Meisenheimer's luck ran out Tuesday, when Goynes-Brown, 48, defeated her for the seat.

Cherchio was appointed to the Ward 4 seat in 2009. He led in fundraising throughout the race, according to campaign reports, raising $157,849 this year, compared with Wagner's $109,270.

Wagner, a dentist who grew up in Southern Nevada, won the Ward 4 seat after a hard-fought race that was overshadowed by the war between Cherchio and the city's public safety unions. The police and fire unions aggressively opposed Cherchio, even campaigning against him door-to-door, because the councilman had voted in favor of cuts to public safety in the cash-strapped city.

The unions also donated heavily to Wagner's campaign, leaving him open to criticism that he was their puppet. Wagner said he was proud to have the unions' support but would be beholden to no one but North Las Vegas taxpayers.

The city in May adopted a budget that includes slashing 258 positions across city departments, including those of 40 firefighters and 18 police officers, to bridge a $30.3 million shortfall in its 2011-12 budget.

North Las Vegas City Council members serve four-year terms and earn $41,827 a year.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at
aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.