Thursday, April 30, 1998 | 10:08 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Although some candidates have been campaigning for months or even years, the political season in Nevada officially opens Monday.
And there will be some new wrinkles this election.
Starting Monday through May 18, politicians must formally sign their declaration of candidacy for a host of offices.
Secretary of State Dean Heller and county election offices are bracing for the expected hundreds of candidates who want to run for state or local offices. Two years ago the sign-up period ran 90 days.
"I anticipate 200 candidates," Heller said, referring to those who declare at his office in Carson City and Las Vegas during the 11 days. Candidates for 24 offices, mostly in state government, will file with the secretary of state.
In November, Nevadans will elect a U.S. Senator, two congressmen, a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, attorney general and four Supreme Court justices.
Also up for election are 11 of the 21 members of the state Senate; all 42 Assembly posts; five of the 11 members on the board of regents of the University and Community College System and five of the 11 members on the state Board of Education. Scores of county offices are at stake as well.
Heller set up a system to permit candidates to make appointments so they won't encounter long lines at the Carson City office. But some of them want to keep their candidacy a secret until they file and won't pick a time to file, he said.
Candidates in Southern Nevada will be able to submit their declarations at the Las Vegas office if they make appointments. Heller said he will accept all filings on the final day, even if the candidate doesn't have an appointment.
Would-be office holders better bring cash, a certified or cashier check to pay the filing fee because personal checks won't be accepted, Heller said. This requirement was enacted into law several years ago after state and county election offices got burned with bad checks from candidates.
The statewide candidates plus those running for the Senate, Assembly, regents and board of education whose district includes more than one county, files with the secretary of state.
The registrar of voters in Clark and Washoe counties and the county clerks in the remainder of the state will handle the rest of the declarations for local office.
Minor party and independent candidates will have until July 1 to submit their declarations.
There will be a lot of new faces elected this year.
Bob Miller, who is ending a 10-year run in the governor's office, isn't eligible for re-election. Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren said he won't run for re-election -- instead he plans to focus either on the governorship or a congressional seat. Two-term incumbent Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., who represents the Las Vegas area in Congress, is leaving that job to challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Four-term incumbent Controller Darrel Daines and two-term incumbent Treasurer Bob Seale, both Republicans, have decided to call it quits.
However, incumbents Heller and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa are running for re-election.
There are two new seats on the Nevada Supreme Court which has been expanded to seven members. Justice Miriam Shearing, the first female on the court, intends to seek re-election. Chief Justice Charles Springer has not yet announced his plans.
There will be two husband-wife teams on the ballot. University Regent Nancy Price seeks the GOP nomination to Congress in Las Vegas. Her husband, Bob, who is a Democrat, is running for his 13th term in the Assembly.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is going after a second term in the Northern Nevada congressional district. His wife Dawn, also a Republican, is a candidate for the Assembly.
And for the first time in the state's history, two blacks could head the ticket for a major political party.
Sen. Joe Neal of Las Vegas, the first Afro-American to serve in the Senate, is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for governor. Rose McKinney-James, president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Solar Technology and Renewable Resources based in Las Vegas, is the first major Democratic candidate to announce for lieutenant governor.
archive
