Nevada lawmakers graded on commitment to reform

Greg Tuttle

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 11:54 a.m.

Nevada's congressional delegation received a mixed bag of results from a recent Common Cause report grading the legislators' voting record on campaign finance reform.

The highest grade in the group went to Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, who received an "A" from the nonprofit organization. Rep. James Gibbons, R-Reno, received an "F" from Common Cause for his support of reform oriented issues before Congress.

In the Senate, Harry Reid and Richard Bryan received "B" grades from the organization. Bryan, a two-term Democrat, is retiring from Congress at the end of this session. Republican John Ensign and Democrat Ed Bernstein are vying for his seat.

In another survey announced this morning, Gibbons and his challenger, Democrat Tierney Cahill, were the only major party candidates to respond to Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit organization based in Montana that asks candidates how to provide voters with "issue information."

Project Vote Smart was founded by a number of well-known politicians, including former U.S. Sens. Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Mark Hatfield and Geraldine Ferraro. According to a press release, the group made several contacts with current congressional candidates asking them to commit their campaign to educating voters about important issues.

The Common Cause report issued last week compared the records of members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted on the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform and eight amendments to the bill.

According to Common Cause, Berkley voted for the bill and against all amendments that would have weakened the legislation. Gibbons voted against the bill and for all eight of the amendments, Common Cause said in its report.

Berkley is being challenged for her 1st Congressional District seat by state Sen. Jon Porter. Berkley spokeswoman Stacy D'Aquila declined to comment on the report this morning.

Gibbons defended his record this morning, saying he voted against Shays-Meehan because the bill is unconstitutional.

During his freshman term Gibbons said he was part of a task force that studied the issue and supported "comprehensive and meaningful campaign finance reform that is fair and constitutional."