Study: Democrats to regain House seat

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

A new study suggests that the congressional post up for grabs in the Las Vegas Valley is one of five open House seats Democrats will most likely take away from Republicans in the Nov. 3 general election.

But the same study, prepared by the nonpartisan Center for Voting and Democracy in Maryland, reported that the GOP should retain its House majority. The GOP currently enjoys a 228-206 advantage over the Democrats, with one independent also in the mix.

Nevada Board of Regents member Shelley Berkley of Las Vegas, a Democrat, is considered the front-runner to replace Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., in the state's 1st Congressional District. The district includes parts of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson. Ensign, completing his second term, is challenging Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The study indicated that the congressional district is leaning Democratic not because of anything Berkley has done, but because President Clinton did well here during the 1996 presidential election. During that election, Clinton received 51 percent of the vote in the local congressional district.

The center found that Democrats won all 18 open seats in 1996 in districts where the president exceeded his national average of 49 percent. Conversely, the GOP won 29 of 35 open seats that year in districts where the support for Clinton was below his national average.

You say 1998 is an off-year? Well, the center also studied the 1994 off-year elections and found similar results, using Clinton's 1992 election performance as a guide. In 1992, Clinton received 43 percent of the national vote.

In 1994, the year of the Republican tidal wave, the GOP won 35 of 37 open seats in districts where the Clinton support was below average. However, the Republicans won only four of 15 open seats in districts where Clinton exceeded his national average.

Ensign won his first term that year by beating Democratic incumbent Rep. James Bilbray of Las Vegas, even though Clinton received 44 percent of the vote in the district, 1 percent better than his national average. If the study is correct, Ensign may have had a tougher time had he faced a non-incumbent in 1994.

Ensign boosts drug court

Rep. John Ensign has authored an amendment to increase drug court funding by $3 million.

The amendment, which passed Congress by a unanimous vote, bumped originally approved federal funding from $40 to $43 million.

The drug court program is designed to give convicted drug addicts a chance to rehabilitate through counseling, progress checks, acupuncture and drug testing. If the program is successfully completed, participants have their drug possession felonies sealed.

"Drug courts are an extremely effective weapon in our fight to rid our communities of drugs and get nonviolent drug offenders the counseling they need," Ensign said. "Drug use can easily lead to more serious crimes, and drug courts go a long way toward preventing that."

More then 900 people have successfully completed the program in Clark County drug courts since their inception in 1992.

No paycheck protection

If she is elected governor, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones said she would veto any efforts by Republican state legislators to make paycheck protection into state law.

"If paycheck protection legislation hit my desk, I would veto it," Jones said. "The people in the state have already spoken, and they said they don't want it. Under no circumstances would I support it."

Paycheck protection plans have met with public opposition before.