Judge rejects Anthony’s call for new election
A Clark County District judge on Thursday denied Las Vegas Councilman Stavros Anthony’s petition to hold a new election after his razor-thin defeat last month for county commission.
Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez ruled against the petition “because the election was not prevented,” despite arguments otherwise by Anthony’s campaign, the court filing shows.
The campaign cited state law that requires a new election if one is deemed to be “prevented.”
“Judge Gonzalez issued a ruling today, Christmas Eve, so given the holiday and a time for our families, we will get together after Christmas and discuss our options,” Anthony said in a statement.
The campaign argued that 139 voting discrepancies identified in the election should have prevented certification, a premise that Gonzalez had previously rejected, and should trigger a redo. While discrepancies are not uncommon in any election, they exceeded the slim margin of victory, casting doubt over the outcome — an acknowledgement made by county Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria.
The all-Democrat commission, however, opted to leave the dispute in the hands of the courts after flirting with the idea of calling a special election.
Democrat former Secretary of State Ross Miller defeated Anthony, a Republican, by just 15 votes after a recount of more than 153,000 ballots cast in the contest. Anthony paid nearly $80,000 to reexamine the results after the initial count showed he lost by 10 votes.
A message left with Miller’s campaign was not immediately returned Thursday. He is expected to be sworn-in next month and will replace term-limited Commissioner Larry Brown as representative of District C in the northwest valley.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.
