Columnist Jeff German: Democrats regrouping for 2000

Sunday, April 4, 1999 | 9:33 a.m.

NEVADA Republicans searching for a new leadership team aren't the only ones in transition as the 2000 election approaches.

Democrats are going through some high-level changes, too.

Paul Henry's decision not to seek re-election as chairman of the Nevada Democratic Party next month comes as no surprise to Democratic insiders.

Henry is stepping aside so that Rory Reid, the oldest son of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., can move into the position at the state convention May 15 in Tonopah.

Last week, the 35-year-old Henry put out a news release saying he was going to work for the Nevada presidential campaign of Vice President Al Gore. Henry is expected to land a senior position in the Gore camp.

His move is the result of maneuvering behind the scenes by Harry Reid, the Senate's minority whip and No. 2 Democrat. Reid is putting together a coordinated effort to ensure that Democrats turn out in numbers in his home state in 2000 to vote for Gore and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa in her bid to succeed Nevada Sen. Richard Bryan.

Reid, who leaves today on a week-long Senate leadership trip to Brazil, Argentina and Chile, is expected to throw his political muscle behind Gore, his longtime friend.

Nevada's senior senator also has committed his resources to Del Papa, who has much fence-mending to do with organized labor and other political powerbrokers before she can expect to have a bonafide shot at the Senate seat.

Henry, who was installed as party chairman by Reid three years ago, is a top former Reid aide. He's expected to devote the same kind of energy to the Gore campaign as he did for the Democrats during his tenure at the helm. Under Henry's watch, Reid was re-elected to a third term, and Democrats recaptured Southern Nevada's congressional seat with the election of Rep. Shelley Berkley. Democrats also pulled even with Republicans in voter registration numbers.

As for the 36-year-old Rory Reid, who's general counsel for the Lady Luck hotel-casino, there's probably no one the senator trusts more with the party reins. The younger Reid also isn't a stranger to politics, having grown up around his father's campaigns.

Insiders say it was Rory's idea to seek the top Democratic post and that he has been lobbying hard to get elected next month.

Secret talks, meanwhile, have been taking place behind the scenes to smooth over Del Papa's differences with labor bosses. Discussions are said to have reached all the way to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in Washington. Among those involved in the talks have been international Culinary Union President John Wilhelm and Nevada AFL-CIO boss Blackie Evans.

Del Papa, who is close to hiring a campaign manager for her Senate bid, landed in labor's doghouse primarily because of what was perceived as her anti-union stance in the epic Frontier strike that ended a year ago.

Local Culinary Union leaders influential within the labor movement here despise her with a passion.

But there's also a feeling among some labor leaders that Del Papa, despite her lack of total loyalty to working men and women, is far better than her likely Republican opponent, former Rep. John Ensign, who stands for everything labor opposes.

Del Papa also demonstrated last year that she didn't need union support to get elected to a third term as attorney general. She used her popularity in Northern Nevada to win easily without the endorsement of the Nevada AFL-CIO.

But not having labor's backing in a tough Senate race against Ensign, who almost defeated Reid, may be a different story.

Republicans, meanwhile, stand to come out a winner no matter what happens in the Senate campaign. Either they land the coveted Senate seat or they gain control of the attorney general's office. If Del Papa defeats Ensign, Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn would get to appoint someone from his party to serve the remainder of Del Papa's term in Nevada. Guinn's general counsel, Scott Scherer, who lost to Del Papa in November, would be the favorite to succeed the attorney general.

Before any of these scenarios develop, however, both parties need to put their political machines in place.

Reid and the Democrats, it seems, are laying their foundation early.