Lawmakers eye added D.C. clout

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

House seats

Eighteen states will gain or lose representatives in the House. States gaining one representative: Nevada, California, Colorado and North Car' olina.

Gaining two: Florida, Texas, Arizona and Georgia.

Losing one: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Indiana, Missis' sippi and Oklahoma.

Losing two: New York and Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON -- No one is looking forward to Nevada's third House member more than the two who already serve on Capitol Hill.

Nevada's little delegation needs another soldier for battles with the nuclear power industry and anti-gambling interests, said Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

"It gives us an extra voice, an extra person in the trenches meeting with other members of Congress," Gibbons said. "And it is taking one away from other states that have at times opposed Nevada."

Detailed Census statistics released Tuesday confirm that fast-growing Nevada will have three House members after the 2002 elections. The numbers also illuminate the task before the Nevada Legislature: divide up the state into three pieces with roughly 666,000 people each.

Candidates who plan to vie for the third seat will watch the Legislature closely. Among those interested in a bid for the job: Democratic County Commissioners Dario Herrera, Yvonne Atkinson Gates and state Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson. Porter, a member of the Legislature's Government Affairs Committee, which will consider the issue, is looking forward to public hearings on the matter, Porter spokeswoman Maureen Schafer said today.

"Instead of the Legislature telling the voters how the lines should be drawn, the voters should be telling the Legislature how the lines should be drawn," Schafer said.

Nevada is among the eight states that will see a power shift in their favor, with a gain of either one or two seats.

Nevada currently has more representatives than seven states, which have one representative each -- Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North and South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. After 2002 12 states will be "smaller" than Nevada, including Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. By contrast, California, the largest state by population, will have 53 representatives after 2002.

In addition to giving Nevada a little more legislative muscle, the third House member will ease the workload of constituent services for the current two. Phones inside the offices of Berkley and Gibbons regularly ring with calls from voters who need help navigating the federal bureaucracy or who simply want a place to lodge a complaint.

"There's no doubt that when you have another Congress member it makes a big difference in our ability to help with the needs of the people we represent," Gibbons said.

Berkley and Gibbons have disagreed about the ideal shape of a third district. Each wants a district that benefits their party. Both will have to give up voters to create the new district; Berkley roughly 270,000, Gibbons nearly 400,000.

Berkley wants to hang onto her urban Southern Nevada core, a Democratic stronghold. Gibbons wants a third district that likely stretches farther into the state and reflects a more Republican base. One scenario Berkley supports is a new "bagel" shaped district around her urban Las Vegas and Henderson district.

"The third congressional district should be cut out of Southern Nevada," Berkley said. "It's where the population is. As far as my own district lines, I'm very flexible. The doughnut -- that's the urban core. Obviously, that is something I would like to see."

Berkley and Gibbons said they will offer suggestions but will mostly stay out of the Legislature's debate.

"The process should be conducted not in the best interest of a single politician, but for the public they represent," Gibbons said.

Berkley predicted the process will be political but ultimately fair.

"The members of the Nevada Legislature are hard-working policy wonks," Berkley said. "They will do what is in the best interest of the state of Nevada. I don't envy them their jobs. They have very difficult decisions to make."