Western states unite to build political clout

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.

Nevada voters will go to the polls on a Saturday in the year 2000 to cast their presidential primary ballots if recommendations from a regional task force are approved during the Legislature's 1999 session.

Elected and party leaders from eight Western states concluded a two-day meeting in Salt Lake City on Tuesday by agreeing to hold each of their primaries on March 11 that year. The strategy is designed to position the region as a powerful political bloc that candidates can't ignore.

The legislatures in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming also must approve the concept in order to ratify the joint primary date.

Now the biggest stumbling block to approving the date here in Nevada will be the estimated $1.4 million price tag associated with the primary.

"The fiscal impact is going to be the issue in Carson City," said Secretary of State Dean Heller, who led the Nevada delegation to Salt Lake. "We're going into a Legislature with cost-cutting on its mind."

The Legislature has the option of approving a mail-in primary, a regular primary or a caucus.

Mail-in costs for a primary were investigated two years ago and determined to be about $1.4 million. Heller said a recent survey of county clerks and registered voter rolls determined the price would be roughly the same.

A regular election would not have the associated printing and mailing costs, but would have overtime expenses related to the staffing of polls on a Saturday.

Although the caucus option would be significantly cheaper, fewer than 2,500 people could participate compared to more than 150,000 who probably would vote in a primary, Heller said.

Nevada's delegation to Salt Lake -- made up of Heller; Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville; state Sen. Valerie Weiner, D-Las Vegas; state Rep. Tom Collins, D-North Las Vegas; state Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora; and Assembly Democratic Caucus Executive Director Lindsey Jydstrup -- unanimously approved the bill draft calling for the March 11 election.

"I believe, and the delegates believe, that Nevada benefits more than any other Western state," Heller said. "When was the last time a presidential candidate talked about gaming or grazing fees, cattle or land management?"

Heller suggested a regional approach would help Nevada focus national attention on its fight to keep nuclear waste and the transport of nuclear waste out of the state.

The eight states had 452 total delegates compared to New York's 391 and California's leading 586, according to 1996 election figures.

As a regional bloc, Southern states Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas had a combined 1,019 delegates during 1996's so-called Super Tuesday vote. Those states have become a crucial campaign ground for candidates lured by the possibility of obtaining one-sixth of the nation's 6,280 total delegates.

By positioning the Western primary between California's and New York's on March 7 and Super Tuesday on the 14th, Nevada and its Western partners see themselves as a make-or-break election for would-be presidents.

With six of the nation's 10 fastest-growing states in both population and personal income, the region has issues necessary for the nation's next leader to address, Hettrick said at the Salt Lake conference.

Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, a former political consultant who has led the drive for a regional primary, has labeled the Western election as the "linchpin primary," meaning that a candidate who does well in California and New York on March 7 will have to campaign well in the West to have the momentum needed for a Super Tuesday win March 14.