Congress race too close to call

Erin Neff

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

The race for Nevada's new 3rd Congressional District -- already hyped as one of the closest in the nation -- could be decided by nonpartisan voters, registration numbers released Tuesday show.

Republicans have a mere 1,322 edge over Democrats out of the 288,844 voters in the district, according to figures compiled by the Secretary of State's office. Nonpartisan voters number 40,499.

The numbers were in the first monthly report reflecting redistricting, which showed the district has 121,299 registered Republicans and 119,977 registered Democrats.

The main party candidates -- Republican state Sen. Jon Porter and Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, a Democrat -- said Tuesday they planned to focus on the district's nonpartisans in the fall campaigns. Independent candidate Pete O'Neil said the numbers gave him hope.

Herrera's campaign manager, Achim Bergmann, said, "As far as targeting nonpartisans and persuadable voters, this election is going to come down to the issues," Mike Slanker, a consultant on Porter's campaign, said the senator has "tremendous appeal to the independent voter" in that district, because he has represented the older areas of Boulder City and Henderson for 20 years.

"I believe firmly that every campaign is about the candidate first, not the party," Slanker said. "Fully a third of this district has voted for him before for the state Senate."

O'Neil said he thinks the high number of nonpartisan voters gives a grass-roots race such as his a chance.

"Those numbers are fantastic," O'Neil said. "It's showing that more and more voters are independent in their nature.

"I'll meet a Republican who loves George Bush but doesn't like Jon Porter," O'Neil said. "In a brand-new district with no incumbent, voters are going to look for the person with the best approach to the issues."

Although the major parties pledge to also seek out those independent voters, both also are focused on their party's registration.

Bergmann said he was not concerned about the slight Republican edge in the district, because Herrera's campaign plans an aggressive voter registration drive.

But Slanker said the slight advantage proves Republican efforts during redistricting to give the party a subtle edge in registration were successful.

Although both parties agreed there was a negligible voter edge for either party, Republicans said that based on statistics showing people who actively vote, they believed they had a point or two advantage.

"There wasn't an absolute way to know that until the new voter registration numbers were released," Slanker said.

The new voter registration totals reflect sizable edges for Republicans in Congressional District 2 and for Democrats in Congressional District 1.

Republicans have a 35,418-voter edge in Congressional District 2 where U.S. Rep Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has no opposition in his re-election bid.

Democrats have a 32,512-voter edge in Congressional District 1. U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is facing a challenge from Republican Lynette Boggs McDonald, a Las Vegas City councilwoman.