Del Papa may seek re-election

Tuesday, March 24, 1998 | 10:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa says there's "a good possibility" she will run for a third term but she won't make an announcement until next month.

Del Papa, a Democrat, had started an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for governor but pulled out last October, saying she couldn't match the $2.5 million campaign chest of Republican front-runner Kenny Guinn.

At the time, her statements sounded like she was going to leave political office. But in the past two months, she has stepped up her public appearances and office press releases, leading to speculation she might be back in the race.

Del Papa was asked about her future plans Monday after former state Assemblyman Scott Scherer of Las Vegas announced his bid for the GOP nomination for attorney general. Scherer, 35, estimated he would need $600,000 to $700,000 for the campaign. He is close to having $200,000 in contributions.

Scherer had firmed up his plans to run for attorney general last October after Del Papa quit the governor's race. His only announced opposition is Tom Wright, a Reno lawyer and former member of the state Parole Board.

Asked Monday what he would do if Del Papa sought re-election, Scherer replied, "I'm in the race."

Del Papa said that every day since October, she has received encouragement to remain in her office. When asked about Scherer, she replied, "I never run against an opponent. I run for the office."

She said she did not want to make any announcement on the day that Scherer held his press conferences in Las Vegas, Carson City, Reno and Elko. Scherer was accompanied by former Attorney General Brian McKay who said Scherer was the youngest person ever admitted to the bar to practice law in Nevada at age 22.

Scherer graduated from Clark High School at age 14 and from John Hopkins University at age 18. He served two terms in the Assembly and, if elected, he promised vigorous prosecution of white-collar crimes such as telemarketing. He also said he wants to speed up the handling of death penalty appeals and to promote more work details for state prisoners.

Scherer has never prosecuted a criminal case but said he has been involved in the investigation and handling of them while he was with the attorney general's office as a deputy.

He said he would get competent prosecutors and added the primary job of attorney general is managing the office with close to 200 employees.