Bernstein is counting on women’s vote to gain in race

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bernstein is banking on stronger support among women than Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., received in 1998 to defeat their common opponent, Republican John Ensign.

But the Ensign camp is not worried, citing an independent poll that showed the former GOP congressman ahead among women.

With less than a month to go before the Nov. 7 general election, Bernstein remains a 10 percent underdog in most polls. If he is to have any chance of pulling off an upset, he may have to do it with a broader coalition than Reid had two years ago when the senator defeated Ensign by a mere 428 votes.

Bear in mind that Ensign won 15 of the state's 17 counties in 1998, losing only in Clark and Mineral counties. And Ensign was running against a two-term incumbent in Reid as opposed to a political novice in Bernstein.

"A lot of it depends on the women's vote," Bernstein said. "Harry Reid was the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate who lost the women's vote in 1998. He lost by 2 percent. The other Democrats won that vote by 10 (percent) to 15 percent."

To go after the women's vote, Bernstein attacked Ensign's anti-abortion position. Bernstein, who advocates abortion rights, cut his poll deficits in half last month after airing negative advertisements against his opponent on this issue.

Bernstein's strategy assumes that Nevadans have not changed their minds since 1990, when they voted by a 2-to-1 margin to pass a state referendum supporting a woman's right to an abortion.

"Nevada is one of the most pro-choice states in the country," Bernstein said. "Ensign has said he would support a constitutional ban on abortions. Women are entitled to know the differences between us on these issues."

Reid did not run on the abortion issue two years ago because, like Ensign, he is anti-abortion. That's why Bernstein believes he can draw more votes from women. Jeri Ivens, president of the Southern Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women, agrees.

"That's why the National Organization for Women endorsed him," Ivens said of Bernstein. "He was more than 20 points back before he brought up the abortion issue. It galvanized a lot of women. A lot of people didn't know how Ensign stood on the issue."

Ivens said Bernstein's support for public education and equal pay initiatives also are popular with women.

But Ensign campaign spokeswoman Sari Greenberg cited an early October poll conducted by national pollsters Doug Schoen and Frank Luntz that showed Ensign ahead of Bernstein 44 percent to 35 percent among women.

"We have had to counter a lot of lies that Ed has been making to scare women," Greenberg said. "We've been successful with women in our grassroots efforts and on TV."

The reason Bernstein needs a stronger turnout among women is that he may not get quite the enthusiastic union support Reid received. Bernstein, like Reid, has been endorsed by the 150,000-member Nevada State AFL-CIO and also is favored by most of the state's individual unions.

But Reid also picked up the endorsement of the 50,000-member Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents resort employees, mostly on the Strip. In the Bernstein-Ensign race, however, the state's largest union is remaining neutral. Bernstein conceded he was somewhat perplexed by this.

"I guess there's a relationship between John Wilhelm and Mike Ensign," he said. "Wilhelm has not helped me with money, unfortunately."

Wilhelm is president of Culinary's international union and Mike Ensign, father of Bernstein's opponent, is chairman of Mandalay Resort Group, which honors Local 226 contracts. Culinary political action director Glen Arnodo declined to comment on the neutral position but said labor in general will "work very hard" leading up to the election.

When Reid won, unions received the lion's share of credit for his victory. During that election, however, Culinary had a bitter enemy in Venetian hotel-casino owner Sheldon Adelson. The controversial resort owner, who has resisted Culinary efforts to organize his casino, ran television advertisements attacking pro-union Clark County Commission candidates. But Adelson's attacks backfired when all the candidates he opposed won.

UNLV political science department chairman Ted Jelen said he believes Reid benefitted from reverse coattails because the union workers who came out to vote for pro-union commission candidates also voted for the senator.

"I visited Culinary's headquarters two years ago, and they were intense," Jelen said. "Some of my colleagues have gone there this year, and there's not nearly as much energy.

"In 1998 their boogeyman was Sheldon Adelson. Bernstein won't have that going for him."

Arnodo admitted as much when he agreed that "in that sense it won't be the same."

Another reason to question labor's enthusiasm for Bernstein is to look at the campaign contributions he has received from labor political action committees. Through mid-August, he had received $98,500, according to the FECInfo Internet website. Compare that to Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who received $195,029 from union PACs for a district that covers only half the state's population. Reid collected $390,350 from unions two years ago.

But Danny Thompson, executive secretary treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, said Bernstein can expect the same enthusiastic labor support given Reid. Thompson said Reid received 71 percent of the labor vote in 1998.

"The people who don't come out for Bernstein will come out against Ensign," Thompson said. "John Ensign has voted against working families. He has a zero percent voting record against us. He's a Newt Gingrich Republican in our view because he voted with him."

The working-family issues labor supports include the right to sue health maintenance organizations, Thompson said. That is a position advocated by Bernstein.

"If you don't have the right to sue, you don't have anything," Thompson said. "We have a lot of retired members who also have a tough time with prescription drugs and want that fixed, too."

As part of its Labor 2000 get-out-the-vote campaign, the state AFL-CIO has trained its volunteers to use computerized hand-held Palm Pilots that have enabled them to track voters' tendencies without having to keep paperwork.

After a day walking through a neighborhood, for instance, the labor organization is able to track undecided voters and then send out mailers in an attempt to influence them. Thompson said he believes Bernstein will benefit greatly from this technology.

"The unions are going to do a better job than they did in 1998," Bernstein said.

Other groups that Bernstein hopes to draw in large numbers are Hispanics and blacks. Hispanics, who make up about 15 percent of the county population and are the area's largest minority group, have stepped up efforts this year to get out the vote by merging 16 local Latino organizations.

Both Brian Ayala, president of Alianza Latina (Alliance of Latinos) and Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, said Bernstein has the more favorable position on a bill sponsored by Reid to grant amnesty to illegal aliens who have worked here for more than 10 years without getting in trouble.

Bernstein also has advocated citizenship for any child of an illegal immigrant who is born in this country, they said.

"If you are born here, you should participate in the same rights as anyone else," Ayala said.

Romero, whose organization has endorsed Bernstein, estimated that 75 percent of the Hispanic vote is Democratic.

"John worked so much against the Hispanic needs when he was a congressman," Romero said.

Less certain is the black turnout, which is normally heaviest for black candidates. Bernstein is white, but the Rev. Marion Bennett of Zion Methodist Church in North Las Vegas said he believes the Democrat will draw a significant black vote. Recorded messages from Rainbow Coalition leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson in support of Bernstein are scheduled to be telephoned to the homes of black voters.

"The educational component is one of our main issues, as are job opportunities, rehabilitation of kids on drugs and alternatives to prison," Bennett said. "More black males end up in prison than in college. The Democrats are more sensitive to these problems."

Jelen also said he believes Bernstein could draw votes based on religion. Bernstein, who is Jewish, joins two other Jews, Berkley and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman, on the top of their party ticket.

In addition to the Jewish vote, Jelen said Bernstein can be expected to get a sizeable portion of the Catholic vote, which tends to favor Democrats. Jelen said Bernstein also would be fortunate to gain a split of the Mormon vote. Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not see eye to eye with the fundamentalist Christian right that supports Ensign, Jelen said.

But Greenberg said Ensign is in good shape. Referring to the Schoen-Luntz poll, she said her candidate has a 54 to 30 percent lead over Bernstein among individuals in their 50s and a slight lead among older residents.

"John is reaching out to all Nevadans, to men and women and to college students, the whole spectrum," Greenberg said.

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