Bernstein says abortion will be key issue in Nevada Senate race

Scott Sonner

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 10:21 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Democrat Ed Bernstein says his support for a woman's right to have an abortion will be key in his race against Republican John Ensign for the U.S. Senate in Nevada.

"I think choice is a huge issue," Bernstein said in an interview before he planned formal announcements in Reno and Las Vegas today announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.

So far, he's the only Democrat in the race and is expected to end up facing Ensign, a former congressman who came within 428 votes of unseating Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in 1998.

Both Reid and Ensign oppose abortion.

"There are some people in Congress who would like to take away a woman's right to choose," said Bernstein, a Las Vegas lawyer.

"I will make sure government stays out of that very personal aspect of a woman's life," he said in an interview over the weekend.

In addition to a pending case in the U.S. Supreme Court on abortion, as many as four Supreme Court appointments are expected in the next presidential term, which the Senate will have to confirm, Bernstein said.

"A senator's viewpoint on a woman's choice being free from government interference is very important," he said.

Reforming health care and keeping nuclear waste out of Nevada will be two other themes of his campaign, he said.

"They'll have to run me over a train before I let nuclear waste come in to our backyard," he said.

Bernstein said he decided to run for the Senate because he's "tired of partisan politics that cater to special interests.

"I don't care if an idea is a Republican idea or a Democratic idea, I just want to solve problems," he said.

"I like to say about myself I have a Republican wallet, a Democratic heart and an independent head."