Bernstein making Senate race official

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.

Las Vegas attorney Ed Bernstein, known to Nevadans through his billboards and television talk show, planned to announce his bid today for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev.

A 50-year-old Democrat, Bernstein said he intends to emphasize his differences with leading Republican candidate John Ensign on issues such as health care, education and the environment. Bernstein also is pro-choice on the abortion issue. Ensign is pro-life.

"Like most people I'm frustrated with the partisan games they're playing in Congress," Bernstein said. "People are frustrated with politics as usual and the gridlock in Washington. They want people who can fight."

Bernstein, who attended the same Philadelphia high school as Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, built a successful law practice on both ends of the state after moving to Nevada in 1976. Specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice and workers compensation claims, he oversees four law offices and a staff of about 70 people.

"I'm very conservative on taxes and spending," Bernstein said. "I'm a person with a very good business background. I come from a lower-class family and I put myself through law school by working two jobs."

He was to kick off his campaign today at the residence of a client, David Emerick, who lives at the Storeyville Mobile Home Resort at 3755 N. Nellis Blvd.

"I would consider myself a populist. Everything I have done in this state deals with working families," Bernstein said.

If elected in November, Bernstein said he would work toward bringing additional federal dollars into Nevada to hire more teachers and repair needy schools. He favors giving full scholarships to students at UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, who want to become teachers in this state.

Bernstein also favors a proposed patients' bill of rights that has been pushed by Democrats in Congress. He said patients should be able to sue HMOs.

"I have been fighting HMOs and insurance companies for 24 years," he said. "We need to take medical decisions and put them back in the hands of doctors, not HMOs and insurance companies. We need to make HMOs and insurance companies more accountable when they make decisions. People are dying because HMOs are saying 'no' to treatment."

The host of "The Ed Bernstein Show" on KVBC Channel 3 is also a regional board member of the Anti-Defamation League, a spokesman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and an alternate judge for Municipal Courts in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

Steve Kanigher is a staff writer for the Sun. He can be reached at (702)-259-4075 or by e-mail at steve@lasvegassun.com.