Democrats hope for control of state Senate

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 12:28 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- Democrats are banking on a political newcomer and a one-time political veteran to grab control of the state Senate or at least cut the GOP margin.

Republicans hold a 12-9 majority and seven Republican seats are up for election compared to only four for the Democrats. If Democrats triumph, it will probably mean the leadership will come from Southern Nevada, rather than from Reno, where it now resides with the GOP in charge.

Terry Care, a Las Vegas attorney making his first run for public office, is given a good chance to capture the seat held by Republican Cathy Augustine, who is running for state controller. Care faces two-term Republican Assemblyman Jack Close in District 7.

The other district targeted by Democrats is the one held by Republican Sen. Maurice Washington of Sparks in Washoe County, who faces former Sparks Mayor Jim Spoo who is making a political comeback.

Care has an advantage in the district with some 10,000 more Democrats registered than Republicans. But Close has lived in Assembly District 15 where there's the same percentage between Democrats and Republicans. He took 65 percent of the vote in 1996.

Close, 55, a physical therapist, has built a good reputation for his work in the Assembly for two terms including his insistence that state agencies set and achieve certain goals. His campaign stresses helping senior citizens on fixed income, particularly in mobile-home parks, who face rising rents.

He's worried about the high percentage of gangs in his district and has drafted a bill for "zero tolerance" of guns on school campuses. And he wants to penalize the adults who allow access by juveniles to weapons.

He wants to make sure the inter-city schools in his district are kept up to date as new schools are constructed. It's necessary, he said, that they have improvements to keep pace.

Care, 51, favors growth management. "That doesn't mean stopping growth," the former television newsman said. There's not much growth in his district but residents are concerned that other parts of the valley are getting most of the money and attention. He wants to see there is money for upgrading parks and schools.

Care wants enforcement against guns or knives in the classroom and says truancy laws must be enforced. He wants to see how effective 1997 laws on controlling crime have been. School district police should have the authority to make arrests off campus in "exigent circumstances," he said.

Care, a veteran, wants to raise the property-tax exemption and other veteran benefits which have not been increased for years. And he wants to require "rent justification" for mobile-home dwellers. If the owner tried to raise the rent above the cost of living, he or she would have to justify it to a panel that would vote to deny or approve it.

Washington, 42, is the first black Republican senator in Nevada. His issues are school vouchers and charter schools to give parents a choice of where to send their children. Washington, a minister, says merging the state and county juvenile departments is on his agenda. Registration of Republicans and Democrats is about even and Washington says the independent voters may decide the outcome.

Spoo, 53, says he and Washington differ on class-size reduction in the primary grades of public school. "He's only one of two members in his party who voted against class-size reduction," Spoo, a former two-term mayor of Sparks said.

Spoo said it's inappropriate for Washington to take campaign donations from tobacco companies while the state has a major suit against them. He said these firms have lied, cheated, stolen and covered up, especially in the sale of cigarettes to minors.

Spoo served as state economic development director and has since returned to private law practice. He said the polls show a close race.

Richard Lyles, 29, general manager of a wholesalers company in Henderson, is trying to unseat one-term Republican incumbent Jon Porter in District 1 in Clark County. Lyles says his primary issues are getting textbooks into the schools so students do not have to read photocopies, cleaning up the smog in the valley and closing abandoned mines in such places as Nelson and Goodsprings that are a danger to the public.

Porter, 43, a district manager for an insurance company, is a former councilman and mayor of Boulder City. He wants to beef up the authority of the state Contractors Board so it can deal with construction companies that take money and don't complete a project. He's pushing his strategic-planning effort so growth can be managed. And if there's a downturn in the economy, he said, there must be a way to find ample revenues to deal with public services. Highway construction, he said, must be expedited in some parts of Southern Nevada. For instance, the bridge across Boulder Dam is critical to the city and to the gaming industry. He plans to continue work on charter schools and is hoping the Clark County school bond will pass.

Libertarian Party candidate Dr. Kenneth Lucas of Las Vega favors less government and opposes the issue on the Clark County ballot to raise the sales tax by one-quarter of a percent for water improvements. "Growth should pay for itself," Lucas said.

Maggie Carlton, a waitress at a Strip hotel, defeated incumbent Sen. Jack Regan in the Democratic primary election in District 2 and is favored in the general election. Carlton, 41, favors more stringent laws on guns in schools and access to health care for all working families. She faces Republican Tino Mendoza, a retired Army veteran who works as a truant officer for the Clark County School District. He said he wants enforcement of truancy laws and less government. He ran for the state Senate in 1996 and was defeated in the primary. The district has 9,000 more Democrats than Republicans, and the Libertarian candidate is Craig Kuntz, 30, a cab driver in Las Vegas.

Lou Toomin, a Democrat-turned-Republican, is trying again to make a political comeback, challenging Democrat incumbent Bob Coffin in District 3. Toomin, 63, served one term in the Assembly in 1993 and has run unsuccessfully since then for the Assembly and Senate. Toomin favors reform of the campaign and ethics laws. Coffin, 56, was elected to the Assembly in 1982 and moved to the Senate in 1986. He's the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and could be chairman if the Democrats win control. There are 7,100 more Democrats than Republicans in the district.

In Senate District 8 in Clark County, incumbent Republican Mark James is a heavy favorite to beat Libertarian Jerry Sims. No Democrat filed. James, 39, has chaired the Judiciary Committee for the past two sessions and is responsible mainly for the overhaul of the criminal penalty laws in an attempt to provide "Truth in Sentencing." Sims, 36, a manager of a pawn shop, has lived in Las Vegas for five years and wants to "cut out the $70,000 and $90,000" positions in education with more money going to the classroom. He also wants to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada. He ran for the same office two years ago and lost.

Democrats, if they are to gain control, must hold on to two Northern Nevada seats -- Ernie Adler in Carson City and Bernice Martin in Reno. Adler, 47, after a third term, is challenged by one-term Assemblyman Mark Amodei, a Carson City lawyer. Martin, 65, a former Reno councilwoman and the first black woman in the Senate, is opposed by Republican Tom Polikalas, 38, who has been one of the most aggressive citizens in fighting a high level nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain.

Sen. Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden, who has served in the Legislature since 1963 and longer than any other person, faces fellow Republican Donald Forrester, 55, a member of the Douglas County School Board. There is no Democrat in the race.

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