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I agree.Newspaper article titled "GOP Blacks Anti-Knight," by Bob Palm in Las Vegas Sun, Tuesday, January 23, 1979. Palm reports opposition from a member of the Clark County Republican Central Committee to Sarann Knight's bid to unseat Las Vegas City Commissioner Roy Woofter.
Sarann Knight Preddy oral history interviews, 1997 June 05, 1998 March 11. OH-01508. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Ve
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16 LAS VEGAS SUN Tuesday, January 23, 1979 City Commission Candidate GOP Blacks Anti-Knight By BOB PALM SUN Staff Writer Sarann Knight to unseat Las Vegas City Commissioner Roy Woofter in the June 5 election was opposed Monday by a member of the executive board of the Clark County Republican Central Committee. Leonard Mason, emphasizing he was not speaking for the board, said he and several other members of the black community are soliciting fellow Republican Woodrow Wilson to run against Woofter because "Wilson is the most electable black candidate in Ward 3." About 40 members of the league, a political arm of the local branch of the NAACP, Sunday agreed to support Knight, 55, the first woman dealer in Nevada, as the sole candidate to run against Woofter. Knight, a Democrat, and Wilson moved to Las Vegas in the early 1940s. Wilson, a former three-term assemblyman, was the first black to be elected to the Nevada Legislature, and has operated the controversial Woody's Place tavern at 805 W. Owens Avenue for several years. Several months ago Knight's son, James Walker, was denied a liquor license by the Las Vegas City Commission when he tried to buy the establishment from Wilson. Mason said he is not opposing Knight because he has anything against her as a person, but only as a Democrat. If elected, Knight, a dealer at Jerry's Nugget, will be the first black and woman to sit on the commission. She has served as president of the local branch of the NAACP, but has never held a public office. Mason said, "We won't field a candidate if we feel there's a chance of someone from outside the black community being elected." Jim Chaney, Marion Bennett Youth Training Program direc-tor, said the league also would discourage other blacks from running, and will begin a door-to-door registration campaign. Chaney said the league hopes to correct past mistakes by fielding only one candidate instead of several. Mason said Wilson has a history of being elected from mixed (black-white) districts. Wilson was elected to the three Assembly terms in at-large elections. Wilson also is one of the founders of the Westside Federal Credit Union, which has assets of about $500,000. Mason said, "We only hope to elect a person from our community who has displayed an ability to represent the needs of the total community as well as the black," Mason said in referring to Wilson. Knight said she would campaign for better housing in the black community, police protection and an increase of the money flow in the area. She added more than 300 groups and individuals have endorsed her for the seat, including one of the larger churches. The boundaries of the Third Ward are Tonopah Drive to Nellis Boulevard, between Owens Avenue and Bonanza Road.