Nevada GOP chief may stay after all

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 11:43 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- After an extended GOP summit meeting Tuesday night, state Republican Chairman John Mason indicated today he may withdraw his resignation.

"It's fair to say I have had second and third thoughts," about quitting, Mason said. "We accomplished so much yesterday. That progress gives me enormous feeling about the way we are going. I feel really good.

"I'm going back and do the job."

Mason, Gov. Kenny Guinn and Republican officials huddled behind closed doors for 2 1/2 hours at the Capitol to discuss party business.

After the session, Mason slipped out a side door, avoiding a newspaper reporter. When he had entered the session at 5:30 p.m., Mason said he did not know what he was going to do. The chairman said today he was still undecided, but appeared to be leaning toward staying in the job.

He had submitted his resignation effective Oct. 15. But he has not called for a meeting of the state GOP Central Committee to choose a replacement. And he said he doesn't have any plans to do that immediately.

Mason called the session a "frank discussion" of many of the problems facing the party. "We covered stuff that has been hanging around since the last election," he said.

Others at the session declined to say if Mason had indicated if he would stay on.

After the meeting, Guinn was asked if Mason was resigning or going to stay through the end of his term next May. The governor said, "You will have to check with John. John, in no way gives me the resignation. I'm not the titular head of the party."

Mason submitted his resignation to the central committee earlier this month, saying he wanted to spend more time with his law practice at Lake Tahoe to support his family, which includes seven children. But he never scheduled a meeting of the central committee to choose a successor.

After Mason announced he was quitting, Guinn tabbed Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt as his temporary successor. Hunt was not present at the meeting, even though the future of the party was being charted. The governor said Hunt had a previous engagement in Southern Nevada.

Pete Ernaut, chief of staff for Guinn, said Tuesday, "The main thing tonight was to clear the air on a few issues. We want to make sure everybody is on the same page. The whole point of this is to see that the Republican Party is as strong as possible going into the next election."

Also attending the meeting were Ryan Erwin, the newly appointed executive director of the party and Mike Slanker, the campaign chairman for former Rep. John Ensign, who is running for the U.S. Senate again. They also left by the side door with Mason.

The governor said Mason had the right to resign and the right to rescind the resignation. But he referred all questions about the future of the chairman to Mason.

Slanker said today the question about Mason's future should be answered by the chairman. He called the meeting "very constructive."

The GOP is more than $300,000 in debt and has seen its voter registration lead over Democrats shrink to less than 250.

Guinn said the meeting talked about the best way to pay off the debt and to get money for ongoing operation. But Ernaut said the debt was "relatively a small issue" compared to the party being organized and managed correctly. "The amount of money in debt pales in significance to the bigger picture of organization," Ernaut said.

The governor noted that computers were stolen out of the GOP headquarters in Las Vegas earlier this month. But the party still retained the vital information on hard copies. And he said it has acquired eight new computers for the office.

Guinn has publicly praised the work of Mason. But Ernaut and Mason have not seen eye to eye on some party business. Ernaut recently sent a stinging letter to Mason, criticizing him for remarks he allegedly made about Guinn not doing enough to help the party.