Gov’s staff chief talking with Bush campaign

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 5:38 a.m.

"It's not gotten to the point of talking jobs," said Ernaut, Guinn's chief of staff. But he said there have been "preliminary discussions" about a role in the GOP presidential front-runner's organization.

Ernaut noted Guinn's role as head of the Bush campaign in Nevada and the involvement of other high-profile Nevadans, including Las Vegas media mogul Sig Rogich who for years has assisted Republicans.

"Certainly with those involvements, we've had a great deal of discussions," Ernaut said. "But my allegiance is to this governor. Anything (with the Bush campaign) would have to be a pretty fantastic deal."

Ernaut spearheaded the Guinn gubernatorial campaign in 1998, helping the former Las Vegas educator and business executive easily beat Democrat Jan Jones in the November elections.

Ernaut, 35, served three terms in the Nevada Assembly representing southwest Reno and Washoe County before quitting to manage Guinn's campaign.

He has been a Republican Party operative for years and was a partner in a Reno advertising/public relations firm before taking the chief of staff's job.

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