Primary election: Assemblyman P.K. O’Neill outraises primary opponents

P.K. O‘Neill may be having some difficulty with Tea Party members of the Republican Party but he definitely has the backing of the most contributors in his bid for a second term in the Nevada Assembly.

According the first Contributions and Expense reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office this week, O’Neill has raised more than double the amount collected by his nearest rival, Al Kramer.

O’Neill reported $57,572 in contributions, fully $50,208 of it in amounts of more than $100.

Kramer, former longtime Carson City treasurer, reported a total of $21,194 in contributions, $17,850 in checks of $100 or more.

O’Neill was not endorsed by the Carson City Republican Central Committee this year because of his vote in support of the governor’s K-12 education package and the taxes to pay for it.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, however, has endorsed O’Neill’s re-election.

But the party, many of whose longtime members talked Kramer into running against O’Neill, didn’t endorse him either.

Instead, it endorsed newcomer Chris Forbush, a recent law school graduate. While the party may be backing Forbush, he listed only $12,243 in contributions, $6,000 of which was categorized as “in kind” contributions, not cash.

The remaining primary candidate in the District 40 race, Sam England, did better with a total of $15,376 in contributions, $12,428 of it in cash amounts of more than $100.

O’Neill was also the biggest spender in this, the first of five C&E reports, reporting a total of $63,305 in expenses thus far.

By contrast, Kramer and England listed $8,872 and $9,988 respectively in expenses so far with Forbush reporting he has spent just $3,675.

In the Carson City mayoral contest, incumbent Bob Crowell reported raising $16,414 in his bid for a third term. That leads Chris Carver who reported collecting $11,273 thus far. Kurt Meyer, former head of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, reported raising zero dollars in his quest to unseat Crowell.

The fourth candidate, Jerry Cinani, apparently missed the deadline. There was no C&E report filed in his name on the Secretary of State’s website — which could net him a fine of up to $5,000.

Crowell’s spending through May 20 totaled $7,107. Carver spent more — $7,796 — while Meyer spent a total of $903 out of his own pocket.