Columnist Jon Ralston: Herrera, the new anointed one

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 1:35 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or by e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

THE 3RD Congressional District isn't even drawn yet. But the race to represent Nevada's new seat already is over.

At least that's how it looks from the astonishing list of those who have agreed to be on Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera's congressional exploratory committee. For the uninitiated, exploratory committees usually are formed to do anything but explore -- the person is already a candidate but doesn't want to be known as a candidate yet to avoid attacks and questions. Rarely do those who agree to be on an exploratory committee then say they won't support the candidate -- and all apparently have agreed to be on an invitation for a Herrera fund-raiser (you know, a fund-raiser to help him "explore") in three weeks.

This list, more than any I have ever seen, screams one word: anointment. Not since Kenny Guinn, or more accurately spinmeister Sig Rogich, assembled the prototype in 1996 to make the voters irrelevant in the electoral process has such a litany of names -- more than 100 -- been compiled. In fact, considering the wide swath Herrera has cut across demographic and special interest groups, he has made Guinn's anointment look tepid in comparison. Here's a sampling:

* Elected officials: Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, City Councilman Larry Brown, state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus.

* Gaming: MGM Mirage's Terry Lanni, Mandalay Resort Group's Mike Sloan, Park Place Entertainment's Mark Dodson.

* Labor: Culinary operatives D. Taylor and Glen Arnodo, AFL-CIO boss Danny Thompson, Food and Commercial Workers head Roberta West, Carpenters chief Marc Furman.

* Developers: Randy Black, Irwin Molasky, John Ritter, Richard Plaster, Kevin Parkinson, John Rhodes, Mike Saltman.

* Hispanics: gamer Tony Alamo, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, publisher Eddie Escobedo, Latin Chamber boss Otto Merida.

* Blacks: Mujahid Ramadan, Fred Brown, Louis Overstreet.

* Asians: Ike Khan, Steve Kwon, R.D. Prabhu.

* Lobbyists/consultants: Mark Brown, Bill Gregory, Dan Hart, John Pappageorge, Helen Foley.

* Business: Republic Silver State's Steve Kalish, Las Vegas Chamber boss Bob Forbuss, car dealer Cliff Findlay.

And that's only a fraction. Herrera also has senior activists, disabled advocates, gay activists, community icons and a raft of lawyers. If anyone could claim to be, ahem, "inclusive," it is the next congressman from the 3rd District.

And consider the message this sends to prospective opponents such as GOP state Sen. Jon Porter and a couple of Democrats, Assemblyman David Goldwater and Herrera's colleague, Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

Herrera, a Democrat, has the major gamers, including Lanni, a well-known Republican. He has all the labor pols that matter, nearly all the builders that matter, most of the Asians that matter, all the Hispanics that matter, nice coverage from the important (read: dollars) lobbyist demographic and even a few black notables, some of whom might be reluctant to sign on until Gates decides whether to lose to Herrera in a primary.

It's also no small achievement to have Goodman on this list. He is the most popular elected official in Southern Nevada -- by far. Del Papa also remains popular. And Titus is deeply committed to Herrera's campaign because of her deeply held belief that she might want to run for his commission seat.

All in all, this list should intimidate anyone with a three-digit IQ who wants to compete for this seat. Yes, Herrera didn't get a lot of his Democratic elected colleagues to sign on, including his county compadres or Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson or a few City Council folks. But most Democratic elected types didn't agree to be listed because they want to maintain the appearance -- emphasis on that word -- of neutrality. For instance, does anyone doubt that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid is with Herrera? Reid wants a strong ally in that third seat -- and, yes, he knows having a Hispanic there helps him, too.

Herrera called most of these folks himself and reconfirmed he could use their names before the fund-raising invitations went out. Some of these people, especially the developers and other county supplicants, might feel undue pressure to sign on because Herrera remains a commissioner and has immense power over their lives. (Then again, some of these people put themselves in jeopardy with Gates and her board allies by being so publicly on Herrera's team.)

Herrera is only 27, and questions linger about his maturity and ability to avoid stumbling on the long road to November 2002. But Nevada political anointments are virtually foolproof, as Guinn and Sen. John Ensign can attest. And while there might be some faux drama to come, unless Herrera implodes, this race is over before the first line on the new district has been drawn.