Herrera, Porter take different approach to race for House

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

The race for Nevada's 3rd Congressional seat started long before its lines were even drawn.

Carson City became a battleground for the nation's two main political parties as lawmakers sparred on how to draw the lines, to keep both a current and former colleague in the mix.

Yet now, despite both of those politicians entering a race with an election 15 months away, the race has quietly slipped from the headlines.

Republican candidate and state Sen. Jon Porter -- who worked aggressively behind the scenes during redistricting -- has kept such a low profile since the Legislature adjourned, many wonder whether his heart's actually in the race.

Porter's spokeswoman, Maureen Schaefer, said he was spending the time with his family or working on his business.

"He'll really be making a concerted push next year," Schaefer said. Despite repeated attempts, Porter would not discuss his campaign for this report.

But his Democratic opponent, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, is already hard on the campaign trail -- raising $362,825 in the first six months of 2001 to Porter's $81,245.

Herrera, 28, declines to discuss Porter, saying: "I'm not going to get into contrasts between Porter and me.

"I'll talk about my vision for Southern Nevada," Herrera said. "I'll talk about my record ... and really let the voters draw the contrasts and make their own decisions."

Democrats claim Herrera has the edge in the race because of his visible position leading the state's largest governmental entity. But Republicans, armed with results of a new poll, say Porter will prove a formidable opponent.

Porter has a 41 to 39 percent edge according to a GOP firm's poll of 300 voters from July 19 to 21. Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., conducted the poll for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Steve Wark, chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, said he thinks Porter has an excellent chance in the new district because he has represented the area in the past and because he gained name recognition during his losing bid for Shelley Berkley's Congressional seat in 2000.

Wark is not concerned about the low profile Porter kept during the 2001 Legislature, or that he does not appear to be concentrating his efforts on the race yet.

"He's doing all the due diligence," Wark said. "I think he'll prove to be a more formidable candidate than Dario."

Herrera said his past crossover appeal and ability to attract non-Hispanics and Republicans to vote for him will help him in the new district.

"I'm excited about the district, it's not overwhelmingly Democratic or Republican," he said. "It's just going to require that the candidates stick to the issues people care about.

"Ultimately the person who is able to talk about his positions in an effective way will be successful," Herrera added.

While those messages matter locally, the national parties are interested primarily in winning another seat to bolster their representation in Washington's current razor-thin political arena.

During the 2001 legislative session the national parties frequently called Carson City to ensure the 3rd district was drawn to their liking during reapportionment talks.

That influence at times slowed the process and at one point led to the derailment of an agreement because Porter and national GOP representatives argued over a pocket of 8,500 people in the proposed 660,000-resident district.

Ultimately a special session was required to settle the reapportionment dispute and other issues. The 3rd Congressional district is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans while Berkley's seat favors Democrats and the 2nd district seat, held by Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons, gives Republicans an edge.

Tom Davis, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he considers the race between Porter and Herrera a toss-up.

Herrera was first touted to run for Congress last summer when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, kept the idea fresh in his mind, ultimately leading Herrera to form an exploratory committee and to decide he was interested in running.

Although Herrera said he expects institutional support from the national Democratic party to continue, his campaign will have a local focus.

"There's a lot of issues that we deal with at the county commission that have a great deal of adaptability to the federal level as well," Herrera said.