Senate leaders unite against election measure

Thursday, March 29, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The two Senate leaders, who are often at odds, lined up on the same side Wednesday, opposing a bill that would force elected officials to resign if they run for another office.

Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, suggested that the public would not always get the best candidate if this prohibition was enacted as called for in Senate Bill 268.

Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said the bill would limit the pool of qualified candidates.

But Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said public officials should not be able to use their office as a "stepping stone" to another job.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, said incumbents have an inherent advantage in an election and the bill would "level the playing field."

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, the sponsor of SB268, said officeholders should "keep faith with the voters" by serving out their full term.

Raggio said that some recent governors would have had to resign to run for the top job in the state. Both Bob List and Richard Bryan were attorney general when they ran for governor.

Titus said a "number of excellent public servants have run for other offices during the middle of their terms." She noted Bryan was elected U.S. senator in the middle of his second term as governor and Sue Wagner was elected lieutenant governor while serving in the state Senate.

She called the bill "undemocratic because it thwarts the public will."

But Goldwater argued, "The power of incumbency is very strong." He said good candidates are scared off because they would be facing an incumbent, even though the person would be running for another office. Passing this bill, he suggested, could increase the pool of candidates.

Townsend said, "Anytime we are perceived to get something the public doesn't get, it's terrible public policy."

But Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, who ran for governor while a member of the Senate, said this bill would deny the public the right to make a choice. He said it was up to the public to decide who would be the best servant.

But O'Connell suggested the office holder would be "breaking faith" with those who elected him or her because they would be leaving their office early if elected to another post.

O'Connell said she had requested the bill last session but did not introduce it because of opposition. She said it was drafted shortly after the close of the 1999 session. She said political pundits have started to speculate on the reasons for the bill. "This is not to assist anyone. This is not to point the finger at anyone. This is just the honest thing."

The committee did not take action, but it appeared the bill has an uphill battle.