POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Gibbons touts law enforcement endorsement
Correctional officers group cites support for collective bargaining
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[Jim Gibbons
Candidate for governor endorsed by Nevada Correctional Peace Officers Political Action Committee

Harry Reid
Senate minority leader has a new slogan for his party: "America Can Do Better"

Brian Scroggins
Former Clark County GOP chairman kicks off campaign for secretary of state]]]

It has long been believed that law enforcement endorsements are critical in races for sheriff, district attorney, attorney general and judge. But prison cops are perhaps a bit too real in the race for governor.

Congressman Jim Gibbons announced his endorsement from the Nevada Correctional Peace Officers Political Action Committee last week as the first law enforcement endorsement in the race.

But the organization's Web site seems more like an episode of "Oz" than the golden brick road to Carson City.

"You know it's a bad day when you find a hole in your glove after completing a body cavity search," the Nevada Corrections Association Web site said on the day the endorsement was announced.

On Thursday, the bad day joke was "when you have a new neighbor who looks waaay too familiar."

The Web site says the association met with Gibbons Oct. 10, and the candidate laid out his positions on a number of issues. Among them, Gibbons would eliminate "salary savings" positions within Public Safety and Corrections to increase staffing.

"As governor, he would NOT SUPPORT the return of privatization of any manner in Public Safety or Corrections Departments," the Web site reported.

Gibbons is known for his successful ballot initiative that required a two-thirds vote to increase taxes, but who knew the following?

"While previously serving in the Nevada Legislature, Congressman Gibbons had a record of SUPPORTING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING for Correctional Employees," the site said.

That ought to play well in the Republican primary against state Sen. Bob Beers, who consistently has voted against collective bargaining proposals.

"I will admit that it's certainly rare for a government employee union to endorse a conservative Republican," Beers, R-Las Vegas, said.

FAMILIAR SLOGAN

Democrats probably can do better.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid has trotted out what is called a new slogan for his party: "America Can Do Better."

The message behind the slogan notwithstanding, the minority party surely doesn't want to remind voters of the 2004 election, does it?

John Kerry unveiled that very slogan as the centerpiece to his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Look where it got him.

MISSING THEIR MARK

Politicians, public-interest groups and even P. Diddy implored the youth of the nation to register and vote in the 2004 election.

After the vote and President Bush's re-election, observers initially believed that 18- to 24-year-olds stayed home.

Additional scrutiny of voting records showed young people did vote in record numbers in 2004, increasing their turnout 11 percent from the 2000 election.

In Nevada, the New Voters Project sought to register 20,000 people in the lowest voting age demographic and increase the state's abysmal ranking of 45th in the nation for young voters.

A new report by the State Public Interest Research Groups -- one of the project's sponsors -- suggests the program didn't come close to its mark in Nevada. It lists total registration at 12,354. And that number includes voters aged 25 to 30.

SAFEGUARDING RIGHT TO VOTE

Former Clark County GOP Chairman Brian Scroggins formally kicked off his campaign for secretary of state Friday with events in Las Vegas and Reno.

Scroggins, a member of the state contractors board, operates United Sign Inc., in Las Vegas.

He said safeguarding the right to vote is paramount in the job he is seeking.

"There are some who have chosen not to play by the rules and attempt to influence our elections by abusing the right to vote," Scroggins said. "They commit fraud and other crimes in hopes of stealing elections."

Scroggins faces a likely primary against former Assemblywoman Merle Berman, Douglas County Clerk/Recorder Barbara Reed and Danny Tarkanian, the son of former University of Nevada, Las Vegas hoops coach Jerry Tarkanian and Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian.

Ross Miller, son of former Gov. Bob Miller, is running as a Democrat.

PROBLEMATIC TCHOTCHKES

Two candidates trying to take over the Latin Chamber of Commerce leadership handed out little tchotchkes with their names and the title "president," for which they were running.

But a funny thing happened along the way for Robert Gomez and Luis Valera.

The position they thought they were seeking is no longer open. Otto Merida has that job.

The Latin Chamber is taking a page from their bigger cousin, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, whose board of trustees is responsible for electing the officers.

The Latin Chamber put forward Merida as president and CEO, and its board signed off on it.

That left Valera handing out air fresheners emblazoned with his pitch and Gomez with giant signs and buttons urging his election to president.

The election for chairman will take place at the end of November. Maybe by then Gomez and Valera will have new trinkets.

Contact political reporter Erin Neff at 387-2906 or e-mail her at ENeff@reviewjournal.com.

Oct. 22, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

JANE ANN MORRISON: Gibson vs. Titus to date: No fatal flaws, but it might get interesting

Pulling into a parking space at Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson's gubernatorial announcement speech Thursday, I found myself facing a bumper sticker proudly declaring "Bush/Cheney '04."

Surely Republicans hadn't turned out to protest the Democratic mayor's entry into the governor's race? Although it's not very classy, that is done. The Democrats had a presence outside the announcement by the best-financed Republican nominee, Congressman Jim Gibbons. Perhaps the GOP had showed up to protest the mayor in retaliation?

Actually, a smattering of Republicans attended to support the mayor. Their presence just gave more ammunition to Gibson's Democratic primary opponent, state Sen. Dina Titus, who pounds him for lacking true Democratic genes.

Announcement speeches might seem routine, but they can foreshadow things to come.

Is the speech riveting, suggesting that the candidate can easily communicate his or her vision? Rarely.

Are the mechanics right, suggesting great organization, or is there a lack of attention to detail that doesn't bode well?

How many TV stations show up? More people from the media showed for the mayor than the senator. Does that mean they take him more seriously or was it a slow news day?

Did the event contain any fatal flaws?

The classic weak announcement occurred in 1986, when Rep. Jim Santini broke into a profuse sweat under some pointed questioning. The TV cameras captured him sweating and running away from the cameras. It wasn't a fortuitous beginning for his Senate campaign against Harry Reid, a race Santini lost.

Titus announced her candidacy July 18 at the Cambridge Community Center with a strong, lively speech. She's an amazing speaker who routinely outshines others on the podium. Some Democrats admit they dread following her at rallies.

The political science professor said government's job is to educate children, lock up criminals and promote the common good. "Then, get out of the way and let people run their own lives."

She was aiming directly at conservatives and libertarians, as well as Democrats, when she declared: "During my administration, government won't be telling you how to live, how to raise your families, what God to worship, or how to make our most personal, private decisions."

Her speech was good enough that TV stations had ready-made sound bites.

The biggest mistake her campaign made that day was to tell the TV stations that they could have one-on-ones with her after her speech. Since most of the TV stations had sent camera crews without reporters, there was an awkward moment as nobody approached her to ask her anything.

Gibson's event was far more traditional. He chose the Henderson Pavilion, and in the background was a view of the hazy Strip.

His speech was not lively, but it was steady and sure, and his strongest applause-generating line sounded more Republican than Democratic: "Just as I fought to hold the line on property taxes in Henderson, I will fight to hold the line on taxes for the people of Nevada."

The only hint in his speech that Titus was his opponent was a reference that to change Nevada for the better "you need more than fiery rhetoric."

So here's the scorecard between the two events. Titus gave the better speech with better delivery, creating a sense of excitement. However, her crowd was smaller and her media turnout was lighter.

Gibson appeared more like the front-runner because more media attended. After his speech, 13 journalists encircled him like Dobermans ready to pounce on a kitten, hoping for that Jim Santini moment, firing off questions about abortion, gay rights, his former job at the less than perfect Las Vegas Monorail, taxes and education. None of the questions flustered him.

As expected, the mayor rejected Titus' invitation to debate him five times between now and the end of November, saying even though he'd been on a plane when she issued her challenge, like most of the things she says, "it was loud enough so I heard it in the air."

Titus will hold her own against men who challenge her outspoken ways, but men do take a risk when they start suggesting their female opponent is mouthy.

Take it from a bona fide, card-carrying mouthy female.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.

Oct. 14, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sheriff defends salary accord
Cost of pay, benefits may rise 26 percent
By FRANK GEARY
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Sheriff Bill Young defended a nearly 26 percent increase in costs under a proposed contract with the police union. Young said the pact could cost even more if it’s decided in arbitration.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.

Sheriff Bill Young on Thursday defended a proposed contract with the police union, saying a nearly 26 percent jump in costs isn't extreme, as Clark County officials have said, and the pact could cost even more if it's decided in arbitration.

Frustrated by a budget process under which the police department relies on the county and city of Las Vegas for funding each year, the sheriff also said he is considering asking the state Legislature in 2007 to earmark tax revenue for the police department so it doesn't have to rely on local politicians for its money.

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"We go to the Legislature and argue for the Metropolitan Police Department to get its slice of the pie," Young said. "What is very difficult year after year is the inconsistencies of past practices. ... There is too much finger-pointing going on."

Metropolitan Police Department officers don't make as much as officers with other police agencies in Clark County, but they deserve to be the highest paid, Young said Thursday during a news conference and a separate meeting with the Review-Journal editorial board.

Entry-level salaries are higher for the Nevada Highway Patrol, Henderson police, North Las Vegas police and the city of Las Vegas marshals, who provide security at city parks and facilities, Young said.

"I don't know how I can look at the 2,500 people in the bargaining unit ... and tell them I will support a contract that keeps you at third or fourth highest," Young said.

"It defies logic that my men and women don't deserve to be the highest paid in the valley."

A contract proposal approved two weeks ago by Young and leaders of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association would increase the cost of officers' salaries and benefits by nearly 26 percent.

When combined with predetermined merit or "step" raises, the contract would assure 65 percent of the officers a 10 percent raise in each of the four years of the contract.

The proposal is scheduled to be considered Oct. 24 by the Metropolitan Police Committee on Fiscal Affairs, comprised of two Las Vegas City Council members, two county commissioners and a nonelected citizen representative.

But the Clark County Commission, which funds a large portion of the police department budget, is scheduled Tuesday to replace Commissioner Tom Collins, a supporter of the proposed contract, with Commissioner Rory Reid, who opposes moving forward with the proposed agreement.

County officials on Wednesday said they expect that the contract won't be approved Oct. 24 after Collins is ousted.

Reid and the six other commissioners want the negotiations with the police union to go to nonbinding fact-finding, a process in which a third party would evaluate the arguments on both sides and determine a fair cost for the contract.

The ruling wouldn't lock in any set amount for the contract, but would simply provide more information that could be evaluated before the Fiscal Affairs Committee makes a final decision some time next year.

If the parties involved in the negotiations still don't reach a settlement on the contract at that time, the talks could go to binding arbitration, a process in which an arbitrator decides the terms of a fair contract that both sides of the dispute must abide by.

Young said he strongly opposes binding arbitration, in part because he says it's a risky move that could push up the cost of the contract beyond the 26 percent increase in the current proposal.

However, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa said it's premature to be discussing binding arbitration because the commission has said only that it wants to engage in nonbinding fact-finding with an eye toward saving taxpayer money on the police contract.

If the talks eventually did go to binding arbitration, it's unlikely the final contract would cost more than the current proposal, Pappa said. More likely, it would cost less, he said.

"The current proposal is unreasonable. We have never seen an increase this big, and it's difficult to imagine that the arbitrator would come up with a finding that would include an increase of this magnitude," Pappa said.

Young, who said he might also ask the 2007 Legislature to outlaw binding arbitration in government contract talks, said he also opposes the practice because an arbitrator from out of town -- rather than elected officials -- decides the salary and benefits for government workers.

When asked how much higher the increase in costs could be if the police contract talks went to arbitration, Young said he didn't know.

The sheriff added that the union's and police management's demands were close when both sides agreed to the nearly 26 percent increase in the cost of salaries and benefits included in the current proposal.

Oct. 13, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CONTRACTORS LUNCHEON: Governor's race gets early start
Three Republicans, one Democrat share stage
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[The four declared candidates for governor, left to right, Jim Gibbons, Dina Titus, Bob Beers and Lorraine Hunt, participate in an Associated General Contractors forum Wednesday at the Rio Conference Pavilion. Titus was the lone Democrat at the gathering, an early look at platforms in the 2006 race.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.]]]

A construction trade group's luncheon Wednesday provided an early look at the different philosophies driving the four declared candidates for governor.

The quarterly luncheon of the Associated General Contractors also highlighted the infancy of the 2006 governor's race, as the candidates struggled with facts and saw certain applause lines fall flat.

But it was the first time Republicans Jim Gibbons, Lorraine Hunt and Bob Beers and Democrat Dina Titus shared a stage to talk about the state's issues. And, with fundraising and party primaries expected to consume most of the candidates' time until next summer, the event at the Rio hotel-casino might be the only substantive look at issues from both sides of the aisle until next year's general election is set.

Titus, the Senate minority leader, said she felt like she had entered the lion's den speaking to the nonunion group as the only Democrat. A moment later, when she discussed the role of government, a line sure to get applause from her base drew silence.

She suggested government shouldn't stand in the way of progress, saying officials should have "been more worried about the levees than Terri Schiavo."

Beers, a state senator, didn't do any better with his opener -- a reference to himself as the brainchild behind the $300 million motor vehicle rebate that began arriving in mailboxes Saturday.

"Everybody get their checks?" he asked.

Two voices in the crowd of about 150 said yes, but there was no applause.

U.S. Rep. Gibbons twice suggested the price of raw land in Las Vegas is outrageous at $300,000 an acre. It is actually selling for more than $600,000 an acre. He also suggested a deficit in the state's highway construction fund could be filled by allocating money from Clark County land sales under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 for use by the whole state.

"This is the first time growth will pay for growth," Gibbons said.

Hunt, the lieutenant governor, answered questions by referencing her work on tourism and economic issues or by mentioning her past service on the Clark County Commission.

"We're here applying for the job as the next CEO of Nevada," Hunt said.

Much of the literature she left on the tables for people to take was left behind after the event.

All four candidates did get their basic ideas out to the crowd.

Titus proposed incentives to developers who build high-density housing in order to provide middle-class homes. She also suggested scholarships to state schools should permit loan forgiveness if students remain in Nevada to become teachers or nurses.

Gibbons stressed he would not implement tolls or higher gas taxes as a means to make up a deficit in the highway construction budget and said the state needed to play a larger regional role in water policy, including a partnership with California to work on desalination.

Beers touted his Tax and Spending Control initiative, which would cap government revenue growth and return surpluses to the taxpayers.

Hunt said truck tolls may be "a creative idea" to make up the deficit in the highway construction budget.

A question about the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to draw water from rural Nevada drew varied responses.

Beers said instead of constructing pipelines, it may be more cost-effective to focus on the infrastructure built through a 1998 quarter-cent increase in the sales tax. It helped fund construction of a second intake, or straw, at Lake Mead and the transmission of water and wastewater.

That project is 95 percent complete, and Beers suggested a way to spend the money moving forward.

"We should be going to Southern California, buying some alfalfa farms, drying them up and keeping them from sucking water out of our straw," Beers said.

Gibbons said the main solution lies in "changing the law of the river."

"We must have been absent when the Colorado River was divvied up," Gibbons said.

Hunt said "science and technology is going to solve this," and suggested a regional approach to policy is best in the interim.

Titus said "nobody ever dreamed this many people would be living in the desert" when the Colorado River policies were initially crafted, and she said she wouldn't bank on changing the law of the river -- a process that would take congressional and states' legislative action and involve decades of court decisions and legal opinions.

"Rural Nevada's got water to spare, and we can help them in return with economic development," Titus said.

She got the biggest laugh from the crowd when she told them her university students' favorite conservation method: "Shower with a friend."

Democrat Jim Gibson, the mayor of Henderson, declined multiple invitations to take part in the forum. He is expected to formally announce his candidacy next Thursday.

Oct. 12, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gibbons begins race for House
Congressman's wife seeks his current post
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[Dawn Gibbons
Ex-Nevada assemblywoman formally launches campaign for Congress]]]

Her husband entered the gubernatorial race last month with balloons, music and a supporting cast of local and national Republican officials. Dawn Gibbons launched her campaign for Congress Tuesday by press release.

Gibbons, 51, is a former three-term assemblywoman who is trying to win the 2nd Congressional District seat her husband, Jim Gibbons, is vacating to run for governor.

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In 1991, the Reno businesswoman fulfilled the unexpired term of her husband's state Assembly seat when he left Nevada to serve in the Gulf War. She subsequently won election to three terms, beginning in 1998.

"It won't be just like sending a freshman to Washington if I'm elected," Dawn Gibbons said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I won't have that learning curve. I've been working on these issues and reading everything Jim's been reading for nine years."

She is citing support from several House Republican leaders in her bid to replace her husband, who is finishing his fifth term in Congress. House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., offers his endorsement on her Web site.

Pombo and three other committee chairmen, Don Young, R-Alaska, Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Tom Davis, R-Va., will hold a fundraiser for Gibbons on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.. Young chairs Transportation, Hunter chairs Armed Services, and Davis chairs Government Affairs.

"It's people who have known me and support me," she said, adding that she has raised about $300,000 for the race.

She faces a Republican primary with Secretary of State Dean Heller and Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno. University Regent Jill Derby is running as a Democrat.

Gibbons had been on a "listening tour" of the massive second district, the boundaries of which encompass all 16 northern and rural counties and a sliver of Clark.

"Most people are concerned about security and our porous borders and immigration," she said. Illegal immigrants "don't just stay in Arizona or California. They come to Nevada and the federal government has to do their part to help."

Gibbons said immigration is the top issue of concern in rural Nevada. She wants the federal government to launch seven air ships to provide communication to border agents. Heller said rural Nevada is most concerned about water issues. Health care, education and taxes are also on the minds of voters, he said. "Immigration is an issue, but it's not because of the infiltration into this state, but it's for security," Heller said.

Angle served with Gibbons in Carson City and said voters will have a clear choice in philosophy between the two.

"I'm a conservative Republican and she's a liberal Republican," Angle said. "I think it's obvious by her voting record."

In 2003, Gibbons was one of five Assembly Republicans who voted to support the $833 million tax package.

Angle said voters are most concerned about taxes. Her campaign is tied largely to two ballot initiatives seeking to cap property taxes and state government revenue.

The 2nd District has nearly 180,000 Republicans compared to 134,000 Democrats. Just 24,000 of the district's voters live in Clark County.

Gibbons is familiar with the district due to her husband's five campaigns. She has also worked with two ballot initiatives that won statewide support. One was her husband's measure requiring two-thirds majority votes for tax increases. The other is the Education First measure, requiring the Legislature to fund education before the state's general budget, which won support in 2002 and faces a second vote next year.

"I know how to campaign statewide," she said.

Gibbons is a Georgia native who earned a bachelor's degree in general studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. She ran several small businesses in Reno, including two wedding chapels, a photography studio and a florist shop and is now a consultant with her own firm, Politek.

Oct. 03, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Early poll encourages Titus supporters
Democrats asked about governor's race before Perkins' withdrawal
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor along with Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson.
Photo by John Gurzinski.]]]

A poll of Democratic voters suggests next year's primary for governor will be a tight race.

Southwest Strategies conducted the poll of 600 Democrats who voted in the 2002 or 2004 primary and considered themselves likely to vote next year. It was taken Sept. 18 to 20 -- before Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins dropped out of the race -- and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus of Las Vegas got 30 percent support, compared to 20 percent support for Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and just 7 percent for Perkins.

Voters were then "informed" about some of the candidates' "positive" accomplishments. Southwest Strategies boss Billy Rogers declined to release the wording of the questions.

After the positive information, 38 percent of the voters said they were still more likely to vote for Titus. But Gibson closed ranks at 33 percent. Perkins still got nowhere at 10 percent.

Then Southwest shared some negatives about each candidate.

"It's just the stuff that's been in the press," Rogers said. "We didn't do any (opposition) research."

At that point, Gibson took the lead, 37 percent to Titus' 33 percent. Perkins wallowed at 9 percent.

"There was always some resistance to Perkins," Rogers said. "He just doesn't move, even with the positives."

Rogers said the poll was conducted for a third-party group not associated with any of the candidates. He wouldn't name his client.

Regardless, it's the first Democratic-only poll done in the nascent race, and the remaining candidates began the spin.

"We are absolutely delighted," said Titus campaign manager David Barnhart. "This is the sixth straight individual poll that shows Dina Titus with a lead in this race."

Barnhart was referring to polls that showed Titus was the Democrat performing the best. Those polls had her the closest to Republican Rep. Jim Gibbons, the favorite to win the GOP primary.

Gibson's campaign spokesman, Greg Bortolin, said the poll suggests "the mayor is leading."

Both Bortolin and Barnhart were hesitant to go any further, since neither were privy to the questions, and since the poll tested a race that doesn't exist anymore.

Democrats link Porter, DeLay

Democrats wasted no time last week criticizing Jon Porter for his ties to indicted GOP Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas.

Porter, R-Nev., received $25,000 from DeLay's political action committee and has also given $5,000 to DeLay's legal defense fund.

The state Democratic party, hoping to entice one of their own to take on Porter in congressional District 3 next year, was almost too happy to report Porter's connections to DeLay.

An initial press release included a typo ranked Porter eighth out of 434 members of Congress for being nailed to the Hammer. He's actually ranked 18th by the Public Campaign Action Fund, a non-partisan group that studies the campaign finance laws DeLay is accused of breaking.

State Sen. Dina Titus extended the Porter-DeLay connections a bit further in her bid to be Nevada's next governor.

Both Jim Gibson, the Henderson mayor, and Jim Gibbons, the congressman, gave money to Porter.

Gibson, a Democrat, gave $1,000 to Porter for his 2004 race against Democrat Tom Gallagher. Gibbons, R-Nev., has donated to each of Porter's races over the years.

"Will Tom DeLay campaign for Mayor Gibson in the Democratic primary?" asked David Barnhart, Titus's campaign manager.

Coalition honors Adelson

Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson received top honors at a Republican Jewish Coalition gala late last month in Washington, D.C.

More than 600 guests were on hand to hear President Bush address the grass-roots organization on its 20th anniversary.

Adelson has been a top donor to President Bush. He also gave $250,000 for the Bush inaugural. His Venetian hotel-casino also hosts events for the Las Vegas chapter of the coalition.

In addition to Adelson, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus were honored.

Ensign's hair, tan pleases fan

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., drew some flattering -- if somewhat embarrassing -- attention last week.

On a recent flight from Las Vegas to Washington, the 47-year-old senator unknowingly obtained a secret admirer -- a Democrat no less.

"His hair looked great. He has the BEST hair," the 32-year-old female consultant gushed to the "Heard on the Hill" gossip column in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

"And he has the best tan," she swooned. "I've always thought so."

For obvious reasons, the woman asked the Roll Call columnist not to use her name.

"He's very attractive," she continued. "He looked really good when he got off the plane, and it's a long ride from Las Vegas. A four-hour ride and he barely looked rumpled."

The woman did not stop until she announced she was nominating Ensign for a "best hair and best tan award."

That prompted Heard on the Hill to establish impromptu contests for "Best Hair" and "Best Tan" on Capitol Hill.

On Thursday, Ensign blushed when Sen. Harry Reid teased him by reading the item for dozens of visiting Nevadans at a breakfast event.

This attention, of course, is nothing new for Ensign. In 1997, he was "Mr. April" in a "Hunks of the House" pinup calendar printed by female lawmakers.

Stephens Washington Bureau writer Tony Batt contributed to this report. Contact political reporter Erin Neff at 387-2906 or ENeff@reviewjournal.com.

Oct. 03, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Titus shows punch
Gubernatorial hopeful sticks to her stances
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[State Sen. Dina Titus at a Starbucks last week in Las Vegas talks about her bid in the 2006 governor's race.
Photo by John Gurzinski.]]]

Dina Titus smiles last week as she tours a home in Green Valley that generates its own power through solar panels. Titus' net metering legislation allows Steve and Marsala Rypka to sell unused energy the house generates back to the power company.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

It began the way her speeches often do.

The words rolled off her tongue before the thought was finished, her drawl stretching out the vowels as if buying time while her mind searched for the best punch.

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"Since George Bush has been president, lives have been lost, opportunities have been lost, the surplus has been lost, jobs have been lost, allies have been lost.

"Let's tell George Bush to get lost."

Though the partisan crowd was there for challenger John Kerry's speech that Feb. 13, 2004, night at Valley High School, it was the stemwinder from a girl raised in the South that was being repeated by attendees afterward in the parking lot.

Dina Titus doesn't just have the most distinctive accent in Nevada politics; hers is arguably its most unique voice.

In the race for governor, she is not just the last liberal standing, she is standing up to the established voices who say she can't win.

"She speaks her mind and she follows through," said fellow Senate Democrat Maggie Carlton. "You can't tell her it can't be done. Just like with this race, she'll do it anyway."

Titus is not as tidy as her labels suggest: Democratic national committeewoman, Senate minority leader, university professor.

She is a high school dropout with a doctorate, a big-city liberal courting rural conservatives, a woman in a good old boy's network. Unmistakably Georgian, she hopes to be Nevada's first female governor, and a Democratic one in a red state to boot.

"You can't be too far out there and get elected in Nevada," said Titus, adding she has been facing voters for 18 years. "Saving Red Rock, that's not some kind of liberal issue. A property tax freeze is not liberal. Protecting people from sex offenders is not out there."

Alice Constandina Titus was born in Thomasville, Ga., in 1950. She grew up in Tifton, a southern Georgia agricultural town bypassed by the interstate.

Titus was raised to be her Greek family's Southern belle, with tap dance recitals, cheerleading and helping in the kitchen at her grandfather's restaurant.

But her "traditional Southern family" also dabbled in politics, with a great-grandfather who served in Congress, an uncle in the Georgia Legislature and a father who made a run for mayor of Tifton.

"I grew up in the tradition of Southern Democrats," Titus said. "That's not like a Massachusetts Democrat. I own a gun."

It's a .32-caliber Smith & Wesson, and she is happy to show you her registration card.

Titus said she got "tired of" high school but had the test scores and grades to get into the College of William and Mary without her diploma. She earned a bachelor's degree in government, followed by a master's degree from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in political science from Florida State University.

She came to Las Vegas in 1977 to teach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Titus is a tenured political science professor and the author of two nonfiction books about nuclear waste politics and federal-state conflict in Nevada.

At UNLV, she met Tom Wright, a history professor. They have been married now 25 years.

A faculty stint in U.S. Sen. Howard Cannon's Washington office piqued Titus' interest in Democratic politics. In 1988, she filed to run for the state Senate and won.

"I decided I teach it, I study it, I love politics. I think I can bring common sense to the job."

She feels the same today, but the job is bigger than toiling in the minority in one house of the Legislature.

At times the strain of this race can be seen in her 55-year-old eyes, the weight of the challenge seeming too much for her slender frame.

On March 31, after a draining 11-10 defeat of her property tax freeze, Titus slumped over her desk as she reviewed notes in her second-floor Carson City office long after her staff and the daylight had gone.

"Is anybody going out for a drink?" she asked a reporter while removing her glasses. "I could use one."

Uninvited to that night's capital bar scene, she also was unwelcome in the governor's race by the same cadre of lobbyists and consultants. It's not a new obstacle for Titus.

In 2001, she considered running for Congress, but Sen. Harry Reid backed County Commissioner Dario Herrera. Then she considered the Clark County Commission, but Reid's son Rory was out raising money and freezing others out of the race.

On the eve of the general election in 2002, Titus said she would run for governor four years out regardless of -- and, in fact, because of -- the other Democrats who said they would run: Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson.

"I've been waiting for this for 18 years," she said. "I'm more than ready."

Perkins had the right connections to inspire fear in another candidate: support from gaming and help from campaign powerhouse R&R Partners. He was following the anointment model used by both Gov. Kenny Guinn and Bob Miller in which donors would fail to support the other candidates.

But a funny thing happened on the way to freezing Titus out of the race this time. She kept campaigning, her polls started improving, and the money started coming.

"She's been running in front," said Michael Green, a history professor at the Community College of Southern Nevada. "She's been out there when Perkins, at the time, and Gibson have been getting it together."

Perkins dropped out of the race last month and said a three-way primary was impossible to win with enough resources left to take on Congressman Jim Gibbons, the Republican candidate with the best poll numbers and biggest war chest.

"I think with Perkins' decision not to run, she clearly has been in the race and would have to be seen as a front-runner on the Democratic side," said Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee-Meadows Community College.

In Titus' mind, she will start to raise credible cash thanks to small donations coming in through her Web site and from a recent endorsement by pro-choice group, EMILY's List.

Because money begets money, she also thinks she will have enough money left to take on Gibbons after the primary.

Several political observers said the primary is hers to lose.

"As much as I admire Jim Gibson, I don't see how he can get out of the primary," said consultant Terry Murphy, a friend and business colleague of the mayor. "The people who will vote in a Democratic primary in the middle of August are not likely to vote for him unless he can establish some real Democratic bona fides."

Democratic consultant Dan Hart said that if Titus were not running, Democrats and moderate Republicans would "flock to Gibson."

Though Titus will have a core constituency in the primary, Hart said, it will be interesting to see whether Gibson can make up ground running as the one in a better position to defeat Gibbons, the congressman.

Gibson has yet to announce his bid formally and has not stated any positions on statewide issues. But several factors give Democrats pause: his stance on abortion and donations he gave to ballot Question 2, the initiative that amended the state's constitution to ban gay marriage.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, was a Perkins supporter. She is interested in learning more about Gibson but said she does not think he will do very well among Washoe County primary voters.

"The average northern Democrat will not vote in a primary for an anti-choice, anti-gay candidate," Leslie said. "Democrats up here are very pro-choice and equal-rights oriented. I don't care how much money they throw at Democrats up here. He can buy name recognition, but he's a negative to a lot of things that Democrats care about as their core values."

Titus is trying to define Gibson for voters before he announces. Last week at a labor convention in Reno, she said little distinguishes Gibson from Gibbons.

"With all due respect, Jim Gibson represents politics as usual. I do not believe you can beat Gibbons with Gibbons lite," she told the Nevada AFL-CIO.

"As Harry Truman once said, if you give people a real Republican and a fake Republican, they'll choose the real Republican every time," she added.

Greg Bortolin, the Gibson campaign spokesman, downplayed the criticism.

"That's indicative of someone who's not been able to get her party out of the minority," Bortolin said. "Richard Perkins and (Senate Majority Leader) Bill Raggio were the two leaders of the Legislature. If you're not in charge, you can't claim accomplishments as a leader."

Gibbons' spokesman, Robert Uithoven, said Titus "is certainly more liberal than mainstream voters in the state are."

He said she will have to address past votes and statements.

In her first legislative session in 1989, Titus became a leading supporter for Clark County's position in the fair-share debate. Before she went to Carson City, she said she wanted to take on the "Comstock Lode mentality."

During debate on a bill to divvy up tax revenues that had gone to Washoe County erroneously, she said: "For years, Washoe County has been a sponge just soaking up the income that's been earned by the blood and sweat of miners, gamblers, ranchers throughout the rest of the state. They don't want taxes. They don't want growth. They just want a handout."

At the time, Raggio, the Senate Republican leader, warned the statement would come back to haunt someone who wanted to seek statewide office.

"I was fighting for my constituents, and I will fight just as hard for the whole state," Titus said last week in an interview.

She describes her legislative agenda -- proposing the "ring around the valley" to limit growth and strengthening development standards in the Red Rock National Recreation Area -- as appealing to northern voters, who tend to be more concerned about the environment.

Titus is convinced she will win the primary and will have momentum to take on Gibbons, who in her scenario survives a contentious primary with state Sen. Bob Beers and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.

Democratic consultant Billy Vassiliadis, who had been advising Perkins, said he can see Titus' scenario but thinks Gibson could have a better chance of beating Gibbons.

"I think the 'I'm the guy to beat Jim Gibbons' is one message that could work," Vassiliadis said. "Philosophically, partisan pure governor candidates aren't typically the ones who win here."

That has been the case for more than 20 years.

Guinn, who is term-limited, is a moderate Republican who proposed $1 billion in taxes. Former Gov. Miller was a pro-life Democrat. And former Gov. Richard Bryan was considered a moderate Democrat, but when he went to Congress, he voted against President Clinton's tax increases.

Democratic consultant Mike Sullivan said such examples make it hard for him to see how Titus can win the general election.

"I think Dina's very, very good, but I'm just not sure how she beats Jim Gibbons," said Sullivan, a former Perkins aide. "I'm not going to say she can't, but I don't see how she brings the kind of Democrat who will vote for George Bush to the table."

Titus thinks she knows how. She is campaigning like crazy throughout rural Nevada and not just during the Labor Day weekend festival circuit.

Though the state is evenly split between Republican and Democratic voters, rural Nevada's 145,000 voters decided the presidential election. Besides being markedly different from Clark and Washoe, the state's remaining 15 counties have the greatest concentration of Republicans, more than 75,000 of them.

And although her accent might remind people she is not a native, as Gibson and Gibbons are, she contends it helps her in Winnemucca and Ely and with the 50 people she met in the far corner of Nye County in a place called Railroad Valley.

"It disarms the notion that I'm from Las Vegas, that I'm from the ivory tower," she said. "I'm just one of the folks."

She is talking the right lingo: the language of water, of limiting government intrusion and of renewable energy for economic development.

Rural Nevada is concerned not just about Las Vegas taking their water but about their lifestyle changing as communities such as Fernley and Minden -- where Titus announced her candidacy -- grow out of their beginnings.

Titus is eyeing the Democratic women who have won in red states, Janet Napolitano in Arizona and Kathleen Sebelius in Kansas.

"They didn't win by trying to be like their Republican opponent," Titus said. "They won by giving the people something new and exciting that they could grab a hold of.

"If you put Gibbons and Gibson on the same stage and have them debate, people can't even say their names without stumbling. They look alike, they sound alike, they think alike. How's that going to look?"

Two weekends ago, Titus was in Pioche on a Saturday. She changed her clothes in the car on the way back to Las Vegas for an education awards dinner. The next morning she hit the black churches in the urban Las Vegas core and then flew to Reno for the AFL-CIO reception. She spoke to the union's convention Monday, met with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Reno, raised money in Lake Tahoe and flew home to teach her two classes on Tuesday.

"A moving target's harder to hit, y'know."

Sep. 27, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada's first lady criticizes potential first lady's decision
Dema Guinn says Dawn Gibbons' bid for her husband's post in Washington bad idea
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[[[Dema Guinn
Current first lady says the position is one that demands attention]]]

CARSON CITY -- Dema Guinn, Nevada's first lady, is criticizing fellow Republican Dawn Gibbons for seeking the congressional seat that her husband, Rep. Jim Gibbons, is vacating to run for the post that Guinn's husband, term-limited Gov. Kenny Guinn, is leaving.

Dawn Gibbons would be doing the state a disservice if both she and her husband win their respective races in 2006, Guinn said, adding Nevadans "deserve to have a full-time congressperson representing them back in Washington, D.C., not a jet-lag congressperson."

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"And people of Nevada also need a full-time first lady," Guinn said, adding that Gibbons is underestimating that job.

Gibbons has said that if elected to Congress she would split the duties, working in Washington during the week and traveling back to the Governor's Mansion in Carson City for the weekends.

"She could not run the mansion from Washington, D.C.," Guinn told the Reno Gazette-Journal, adding that leaving the job to staff or another family member would be "showing disrespect to the people of Nevada and disrespect to the first lady's position."

Gibbons said Monday she isn't surprised by Guinn's comments that the job of first lady "being more important than the job of congresswoman."

"It has been obvious for some time that both Dema and Kenny are not supportive of me or Jim," added Gibbons, a former three-term state assemblywoman.

In 1994, Kenny Guinn supported Democrat Bob Miller in his successful bid for governor against Jim Gibbons.

Dawn Gibbons' political career should not necessarily be sacrificed for her husband's, some political experts said.

"Dawn Gibbons has always worked. She was a successful businesswoman in her own right," said Eric Herzik, a Republican and political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Others see the dual-role question as one that Dawn Gibbons will have to answer for voters if she or her husband is to be elected.

"It is not an unreasonable issue for Mrs. Guinn to raise," said Fred Lokken, a Republican and political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College.

"It is also one that Dawn Gibbons should be willing to tell us how she is going to handle," he said.

Monday, September 26, 2005
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Democrats unite as Republicans scramble
Assembly majority leader attracts generous crowd to fundraiser ahead of possibly becoming Nevada's first female speaker
By ERIN NEFF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

[[[Majority Leader Barbara Buckley talks with other Assembly members in June in Carson City. While Democrats learned last week Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins would not seek re-election, they were bolstered by the thought of Buckley becoming Nevada's first female speaker.
Photo by John Locher.]]]

Yvonne Atkinson Gates and her husband recently built the home above in Summerlin, which is outside her County Commission district. Gates is married to District Judge Lee Gates, who last year disqualified Mark DeStefano from a Board of Regents election because he didn't live in the 13th district. DeStefano had claimed his house on Mount Charleston, below, was his residence. Atkinson Gates says she's renting an apartment in her district.
Photo by ISAAC BREKKEN/REVIEW-JOURNAL

Photo by John Locher.

It was the best of times and the worst of times last week in the Assembly's two very different political caucuses.

Even as Democrats learned their speaker, Richard Perkins, was not seeking re-election, they were bolstered by the thought of Majority Leader Barbara Buckley becoming the first female speaker.

Buckley spoke Wednesday at a Democratic Legislative Caucus event at Terrazza Lounge, poolside at Caesars Palace, with a who's who of lobbyists and politicos in the house.

Even the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which typically supports the other party, was well represented at the event, which raised $150,000.

Across the aisle, things are not as rosy.

A power vacuum is sucking the life out of the 16 Assembly Republicans, with three members vying to replace their leader, Lynn Hettrick, even though Hettrick hasn't definitively said he's retiring.

Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, has said he is thinking about ending his legislative service after 12 years.

That was enough for Heidi Gansert, Garn Mabey and Bob Seale. All three have been soliciting support from within the caucus to take over.

Mabey, R-Las Vegas, is the assistant minority leader, a post he won over Seale during a caucus vote after the 2004 elections.

Mabey earned his bona fides being part of the "Mean 15" in the the taxing 2003 legislative session. But he's also been criticized within his caucus for making anti-gaming statements that may make it harder for the caucus to raise money from the state's leading industry.

Then there's Dr. Mabey's gynecological practice, which took him away from Carson City on more than a few Fridays this year, earning him the derisive moniker "Absentee Leader" within the caucus.

Seale, R-Henderson, is a former two-term state treasurer, so he's not viewed as the freshman he is. But he is seen as a moderate, and that hurts him among the rural members who banded together in 2003 as a voting bloc of 15 to successfully scuttle several tax votes.

Gansert, R-Reno, is a freshman hoping she can win the leadership post by encouraging the northern and rural members to side with her.

She's pushing for Hettrick to step down and is calling for a caucus vote to replace him, perhaps as soon as next month.

An early vote would help her, because Seale will likely help get several Republicans elected, shoring up support from them if the vote for leadership is held, as it traditionally is, after the even-year's elections.

Already down 10 seats to the Democrats in the lower house, the Republicans will be losing several of their members. John Marvel of Battle Mountain may retire, four-termer Sharron Angle of Reno is running for Congress, and sophomore Rod Sherer of Pahrump has resigned and is moving out of state.

Changes for Democrats

Clark County Democrats elected a new slate of leaders last week amid the party's biggest central committee turnout in recent memory.

Attorney Liz Foley took 93 percent of the vote to serve as county chairman, besting activist Debbie Springer with "several hundred" Democrats in attendance.

Foley said she envisions turning the county party into a "big city party," organized by wards, not smaller precincts, and which will coordinate better with individual Democratic organizations.

"Right now, we're like a one-story rancher. We need to become a three-story office building," said Foley, who took over as chairwoman when Charlie Waterman retired after 25 years at the helm.

Foley said the wards will mirror the geographic city wards and will be created along township lines in unincorporated areas of the county.

The biggest change will occur at next February's precinct caucuses. For the past several years, all precincts met at one location for party elections. Last year, more than 10,000 showed up at Chaparral High School amid presidential year mania.

Next February, the party will hold caucuses in Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, all on the same day.

Other leaders elected last week are: Justin Gilbert, first vice chairman; Jerry Johnson, second vice chairman; and Roger Moore, third vice chairman.

Gilbert was the party's youth chairman in the past. Johnson will help organize the senior vote. Moore was the volunteer coordinator for John Kerry's presidential campaign last year.

Dian Guinn and Jan Churchill stay on as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Resident judge

Here's a dose of irony.

Mark DeStefano won a Board of Regents primary last year but was disqualified from the general election ballot by District Judge Lee Gates, who ruled he didn't live in the 13th district and, as a result, didn't meet residency requirements.

Gates is married to Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates. The Gates family built a new home in Summerlin, which is outside of Atkinson Gates' commission district.

Atkinson Gates says she's renting an apartment in her district, whose address she would not disclose, with her daughter.

Judge Gates moved into the Summerlin home.

Atkinson Gates has three years left on her term and may seek re-election in 2008.

DeStefano, now a Republican candidate for state treasurer, doesn't have to worry about residency issues anymore. He does live in Nevada.

Contact political reporter Erin Neff at 387-2906 or ENeff@reviewjournal.com.