Porter, Herrera face primary foes

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

Ever since the ink dried on the drawing of Nevada's new congressional district, Dario Herrera and Jon Porter have been eyeing the November election, and each other.

But 14 months after the district was created, Porter first has to face three other Republicans, including one with a family name steeped in politics, and Herrera has to get past a Democrat who has spent most of the campaign at sea.

Porter, a former state senator and mayor of Boulder City, has raised $1.2 million for the race and has the support of the Republican National Committee and House Republican leaders.

Barry Bilbray has a large political family tree.

Bilbray, 49, owns Laughlin Towing and supports negotiating for benefits for Yucca Mountain. But his cousin Jim Bilbray is the former Democratic congressman from Nevada, his uncle Jim Bilbray was a longtime Clark County Assessor and his brother was a congressman in California.

"I think I'm lucky because of the name," Bilbray said. "I think I'll get 10 percent of the vote just for being on the top of the ballot, and people will see the name and really think."

Bilbray decided to run after Porter's campaign sent him a letter seeking a $250 donation and mentioning Porter's pledged fight against Yucca Mountain.

"When somebody sends me a letter like that, I don't want to send the $250, I want to run against them," Bilbray said. "Porter didn't do anything to block the dump. We can't stop Yucca Mountain from coming, but let's get something for it."

Porter, 47, was first elected to the state Senate in 1994 and served as the chairman of the Legislative Affairs and Operations Committee. He is a district manager for Farmers Insurance and attended Briar Cliff College in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Iowa native, who is also a former Boulder City Councilman, is married and has two children attending college in Nevada. Porter lives in Henderson.

In addition to Bilbray, Porter faces challenges from Bob Daily and Susan Kiger.

Daily, 52, has worked in the gaming industry for 30 years and attended the University of Texas at Arlington.

His campaign platform is to redirect the power of government back to the states, revitalize the military and stop the nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain.

"I decided to run because my campaign calls Mr. Porter the anointed one," Daily said. "I was kind of waiting for someone to step forward and prove themselves a leader. I waited and nobody stepped up, so I decided to."

Kiger, 51, is an administrative assistant for the Nevada Contractors Board who calls herself a "Constitutional" Republican.

She said Porter's elected offices don't qualify him to be a successful congressman because he lacks "constitutional savvy and grasp of the critical issues."

In the Democratic primary, Mark Budetich Jr. is bothered that Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission, gets all the media attention. And he wonders why his picture hasn't been in the paper, even during the three months of the campaign that he spent at sea with the merchant marine.

"If it was a fair race, I'd probably have a good change," Budetich said.

As an electrician on a ship sailing along the Pacific Rim, Budetich said he has gained a new understanding of the world.

"I'm not scared to walk around in Sri Lanka, and I have no fear of my opponent because I have more ideas," Budetich said.

Budetich wants to secure Social Security, ban taxes on the Internet and get the Primm Valley airport project back on track.

Herrera, 29, said he wants to pass a "real patient's bill of rights," lower the cost of prescription drugs and fight for greater corporate accountability.

Elected to the county commission in 1999, Herrera has served on a number of public boards and on the board of directors on a number of community agencies. He is a former state assemblyman and is married with a baby son.

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