Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Senate race turns murky

Las Vegas attorney Edward M. Bernstein said he's about two weeks away from making "a major announcement" about his potential candidacy for the U.S. Senate, a decision that could make him the front-running Democrat.

That distinction belonged to Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa until she dropped out of the race Wednesday, citing her difficulty raising campaign funds. The only other major candidate in the race is former Rep. John Ensign, a Las Vegas Republican who narrowly lost a 1998 Senate bid to incumbent Democratic Sen. Harry Reid.

Reid, Senate Minority Whip, said he wouldn't offer a short list of possible Democratic candidates. "There is a short list. I will not throw it out there," he said.

Bernstein, Polo Towers President Stephen Cloobeck and Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny have been mentioned in political circles as the three most likely Democrats to make a run at next year's seat in the event Del Papa dropped out. The seat is being vacated by Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan, who decided to return to Nevada after finishing his second six-year term.

Like other Democrats, Bernstein said he found Del Papa's decision "regrettable." They talked on the telephone after she made her announcement.

"She talked about the difficulty raising money," Bernstein said. "It's a terrible system where you have to be on the phone all day to raise $5 million. She said she would be most open to working with me."

Ensign expressed surprise about Del Papa but said it would have no bearing on his campaign, which had raised $1.1 million by July. That's about four times as much money as raised by the attorney general. Ensign, a veterinarian and son of Mandalay Resort Group executive Mike Ensign, was first elected to Congress in 1994 and served two terms.

"For the past month we knew their side was in disarray," Ensign said of the Democrats. "But we're not focusing on that. Our campaign will be about issues, such as fighting nuclear waste, protecting Social Security and Medicare, improving our schools and making sure that Nevada has a voice in the majority party to do all these things."

The GOP has a 55-45 majority in the Senate, a margin Ensign would like to increase by raising $2 million by year's end and $4 million to $5 million total for his campaign. There are no other potential Nevada Republican candidates in sight that pose a threat to his candidacy.

Reid said this morning he was not working the phones looking for a Democratic candidate. "That's not my job. Somebody has to want it. I can't force it."

But of the potential Democratic candidates, the 49-year-old Bernstein appears farthest along in terms of organizing a potential campaign. A personal injury attorney, Bernstein also hosts his own local television show.

He is scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C., on Sunday, a trip he had planned several weeks ago, to meet with Reid and other leading Democratic senators.

Bryan said this morning in Washington he thinks Bernstein would be a viable candidate. "He would fit into that non-traditional candidate mode. That's something that seems to have a lot of vibrancy this year," he said. "Look at our mayor."

Bernstein said his itinerary will include visits with Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., and Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., chairman of the Democrats' senatorial campaign committee. The attorney, who said a campaign would cost about $5 million, also plans to meet with representatives of the AFL-CIO, Culinary Union and any other potential donors who agree to see him.

But he already sounded as though he was planning to run.

"There will be some obvious differences between John Ensign and myself," Bernstein said. "I've worked a lifetime helping people who have been injured and who have fought corporations. Obviously, John Ensign is on the other side of a lot of those issues."

Cloobeck, one of the state's leading Democratic Party campaign contributors, also expressed regret at Del Papa's money-related decision.

"Without campaign finance reform it will continue to be a problem for candidates in the future," Cloobeck said. "Without personal wealth it creates a problem for a public official who is seeking another public office. Raising funds is like having a second full-time job."

Although Cloobeck said he plans one day to run for Senate, he added that he would support Bernstein should the attorney decide to run. Cloobeck said there is no one to take over his family-run business, noting that his father left three years ago and "is not prepared to come back right now."

"I really hope he does run," Cloobeck said of Bernstein. "I would support Eddie 1,000 percent. He would be a formidable candidate to show Ensign that it was a fluke when he ran against Reid and lost by only a small margin."

Kenny said she has discussed a potential candidacy with high-ranking Democrats she wouldn't name. In winning re-election last fall to a second four-year term on the County Commission, Kenny set a record by raising $1.24 million for a commission race. She previously served in the state Assembly.

Though undecided about a run for Senate, she said the time is right for a woman to represent Nevada in the upper chamber of Congress.

"The time wasn't right for Frankie Sue, but I think the time is right for a woman from Nevada to represent the state in the Senate," Kenny said. "I'm not making any commitment. It will take a long conversation with my family first."

Former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller, now an attorney for the Jones Vargas law firm in Las Vegas, reiterated Wednesday that he has no plans to run for the Senate, despite encouragement from President Clinton.

Las Vegas Sun Editor and President Brian Greenspun, a Republican, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate. But Greenspun said his best chance to win would have been as a Democrat. The deadline to make a party switch was last week, however, and he chose to remain in the GOP. He said he has not considered running for the Senate as a Republican.

"What I'm trying to do is encourage enough good people to get in the race so Nevada voters have a good choice," he said. Sun reporter

Ben Grove contributed to this report.

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