Labor endorses Scherer, passes on governor

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 10:22 a.m.

It was stunning, but not unexpected to see the Nevada AFL-CIO endorse Republican Scott Scherer Tuesday over two-term Democratic Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Del Papa's support within the 132,000-member AFL-CIO, which has a history of aligning itself with Democratic candidates, has been eroding the past several years.

"There were numerous examples of her decisions as attorney general that were counter to the positions that we believe were proper," AFL-CIO Political Director Danny Thompson said today.

Del Papa often clashed with the Culinary Union, the largest and most influential local in the AFL-CIO, over her perceived anti-worker stand during the Frontier hotel-casino strike.

She also once ruled against the Culinary Union on the issue of whether sidewalks in front of Strip casinos were public and could be used for demonstrations.

For the Culinary Union, this was a payback.

"She made it very clear that she wasn't supporting the Frontier strikers early on," Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Jim Arnold said. "We made it clear that we'd never support her."

As it turned out, Scherer, a former Las Vegas Assemblyman, was the perfect candidate to allow the AFL-CIO to depart ways with Del Papa, who had enjoyed its endorsement in her two previous campaigns.

Scherer had impressed labor leaders meeting in Reno on Monday and Tuesday with his straight-forward approach to the issues important to them. He promised to leave partisanship out of the office.

"We know him to be fair and have worked with him in the past as a state legislator," Thompson said.

The other big news out of the AFL-CIO was its lack of endorsement in the crowded governor's race.

Labor leaders considered only three candidates -- Republican Kenny Guinn and two Democrats, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and state Sen. Joe Neal of North Las Vegas.

None could muster up a two-thirds majority of votes to win the endorsement in a development that is being viewed as another important Republican victory.

Thompson said each of the three candidates received roughly one-third of the vote.

The AFL-CIO, however, did come out in support of Democrat Rose McKinney-James over Republican Lorraine Hunt in the lieutenant governor's race.

It also endorsed Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in his re-election campaign against Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., an outspoken critic of organized labor's involvement in politics.

And Democratic Regent Shelley Berkley won labor's backing in the race to succeed Ensign in the 1st Congressional District.

Del Papa on Tuesday took labor's snub in stride.

"You can't win 'em all," she said. "I am surprised that my commitment to working families has apparently been overlooked by some labor leaders.

"Obviously, I've ruffled some feathers. But what really counts is the support of the people. I've never taken anything for granted, and I intend to try to prove to all the citizens of Nevada that I deserve their support for reelection as attorney general."

An elated Scherer predicted the AFL-CIO endorsement will jump-start his campaign.

"I think it's going to be a good momentum builder for us," Scherer said. "It's a tangible sign that we in fact are going to have bipartisan support."

Guinn, who has been courting labor since he jumped into the governor's race more than two years ago, said he was pleased that the AFL-CIO did not endorse a Democrat in his race.

"It certainly shows we've got bipartisan support," he said.

Two of Guinn's Republican rivals -- Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren and Aaron Russo -- were not invited to speak to the labor leaders because of their support of the GOP's workers rights initiative that seeks to curtail labor's involvement in politics.

Hammargren, backed last time by the AFL-CIO, attempted to address the the delegates, but he was rebuffed after he refused to change his position on the ballot initiative.

Both Guinn and Scherer, who have spoken out against the initiative, signed the AFL-CIO's counter-petition after making their presentations in Reno.

Jones said Tuesday she wasn't concerned about the lack of endorsement in her race.

She said she intended to work hard to win the support of individual unions.