Columnist Jeff German: Brash campaign manager embarrasses Guinn camp

Thursday, Jan. 8, 1998 | 11:03 a.m.

IT DIDN'T take long for Kenny Guinn's overbearing campaign manager to land the leading gubernatorial candidate in trouble.

Political experts had predicted that Pete Ernaut, a hot-tempered Republican Assemblyman from Reno, would cause headaches for Guinn as the 1998 campaign season unfolded.

And that's exactly what has happened.

Showing his inexperience as a campaign operative, the 33-year-old Ernaut started a political fight with Secretary of State Dean Heller, who's trying to stir up interest in a Republican primary race against Guinn.

Last week, after Heller needled Guinn in a Northern Nevada newspaper, Ernaut angrily telephoned the secretary of state to read him the riot act.

Word then leaked back to Heller that Guinn's strategists had decided to orchestrate a letter-writing campaign against him. The practice is common, but rarely is the opposition tipped off ahead of time.

Ernaut's antics made it look as though the Guinn campaign was playing hardball to keep Heller out of the race.

The campaign appeared threatened by Heller's candidacy, even though it had no reason to be threatened. Heller has raised a paltry $7,500 for his still-unannounced bid, and his name recognition in Southern Nevada, where most of the voters are, is negligible.

The spat between Heller and Ernaut, former fraternity brothers at the University of Southern California, has become an embarrassment to both men. Heller, it turns out, was loose with his facts when disclosing the incident.

But Guinn may have been hurt the most.

At this point in the race, Guinn should be free of headaches.

Through sheer hustle, he has amassed more than $2.4 million in his war chest and scared off his biggest Democratic challengers.

He also has begun to win over voters with his personable, level-headed approach to the campaign.

But now, thanks to Ernaut, Guinn is being perceived by some as the mighty front-runner picking on the underdog. That's not the image he wants to convey to voters at a time when critics say the governor's race is being handed to him.

Though Ernaut's gaffe is by no means fatal to the campaign, it demonstrates that Guinn needs to rein in his No. 1 operative to make it to Carson City.

Guinn should remember that he -- not an overbearing aide -- is his best asset.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is coming back to Las Vegas at the end of the month to headline a fund-raiser for Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

The Jan. 31 event is likely to earn big bucks for Ensign, who already has $900,000 in his campaign coffers.

Ensign is challenging two-term Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in what is expected to be one of the most costly and hotly contested races here in years. Reid has about $1.7 million in the bank.

Lott's last fund-raising visit in November for the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee heightened a rift between casino giants Arthur Goldberg of Hilton Gaming and Steve Wynn of Mirage Resorts.

Goldberg refused to participate in the event, sponsored by the Washington-based American Gaming Association, because he believed Wynn was trying to dominate it.

This time, the majority leader's trip should be less controversial, though it's not likely to bring a smile to Reid's face.

Frontier owner Phil Ruffin goes before the State Gaming Control Board next Wednesday to get his license, and word is his hearing will be one of the quickest on record.

The Kansas industrialist has come up squeaky clean following an expedited background investigation. The Control Board can't wait to give him its blessing.

If all goes well, Ruffin hopes to take the reins of the Frontier just after midnight on Feb. 1.

Culinary Union members plan to take down their six-year-old picket line at that time and march into the Frontier with much fanfare.