Del Papa to seek third term as attorney general

Thursday, May 14, 1998 | 10:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, who once considered running for governor, plans to file today for re-election to a third term.

The first woman to serve as attorney general, Del Papa, started an exploratory committee for governor last year. Del Papa, a Democrat, later pulled out of the race saying she couldn't match the fund-raising efforts of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Guinn who at that time had near $2.5 million.

Del Papa then indicated she would not be seeking any political office this year. She now has decided to run for a third term, which only two other attorneys general have won in Nevada's history.

Her major opponent will be former Las Vegas Assemblyman Scott Scherer, a Republican, who says he will devote more time to fighting crime, rather than the many activities Del Papa is involved in outside the office.

The possible governor's bid was not the first time Del Papa has cast a roving eye at other posts. She submitted her name to become chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada but later withdrew. She also was considered for a top post in the Interior Department of the Clinton administration but then bowed out.

During her eight years in office, the budget has grown from $8.2 million to next fiscal year's $21.6 million -- one of the biggest increases in state government.

She has taken over the fight against fraud in the State Industrial Insurance System, in Medicaid and in telemarketing. She has been active in prevention programs including domestic violence, teen pregnancy and cigarette purchases by minors.

She is believed to be the only attorney general in history to be censured by the Legislature for her efforts to remove Lincoln County commissioners who voted to invite the federal government to locate an interim nuclear repository in their county.

Del Papa was a leader in the fight to permit the state Judicial Discipline Commission to go forward with its probe of District Judge Jerry Whitehead of Reno. She also tangled with members of the Nevada Supreme Court. She eventually lost the battle but won popularity among her constituents.

Her office won cases to stop legislators from collecting 300 percent increases in their pensions; she beat back efforts by cottage parents at the children's homes for $8 million additional compensation; and defeated nursing homes in Nevada who sued to collect higher state rates that would have totaled $15 million.

In the battle to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada, Del Papa's office has filed several suits, losing most of them. She refused to settle some lawsuits against the state for minor amounts of money and ended up losing them at trial, costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She won a Nevada Supreme Court ruling, permitting her friend Gov. Bob Miller to run for re-election in 1994. But she lost in 1991 when she tried to prevent a pay increase for state workers because of a budget shortfall.

She and other attorneys general helped push through federal legislation to streamline the appeal process in death penalty cases. But her office allowed two death penalty cases to languish for more than four years in district court. In another case, she missed the filing deadline for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a death penalty case. She blamed the state mail room for the snafu but it said she was at fault for not reading the mailing policies.

Del Papa graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1971 where she was student body president. From 1979 to 1987 she was in private practice in Reno and served as a member of the board of regents of the university system from 1980 to 1986. She then was elected as secretary of state, the first woman to hold that job as well. After serving one term, she won the office of attorney general.