Porter, Herrera get down to business

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 | 8:57 a.m.

The gloves have already come off in the race to represent Nevada's new congressional district.

But now that the formality of both Democratic and Republican primaries is past, voters can focus on Dario Herrera and Jon Porter in what is already shaping up to be the nastiest local election -- and one of the most watched House races nationwide.

Herrera, the chairman of the Clark County Commission, sent Merchant Marine Mark Budetich back out to sea with 69 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, according to unofficial results.

Porter, a former state senator, had no trouble in the Republican primary, which saw Barry Bilbray, Bob Daily and Susan Kiger amass just 31 percent of the vote combined. Bilbray had 17 percent.

The real battle in the new district, which includes portions of Las Vegas, unincorporated Clark County, Henderson, Primm, Mesquite and Laughlin, will be for the roughly 41,000 non-partisan voters.

Republicans have a 2,000-voter edge in registration in the district, but a far greater number of Republicans (37,084) turned out to vote Tuesday than did Democrats (30,192), amid low turnout.

Democrats are trying to overcome the difference with an aggressive registration drive, but the battle for the middle is largely being played on television.

Herrera and Porter have roughly the same amount of cash on hand, with each raising more than $1.3 million already for the race.

Herrera hit the airwaves first with an introduction ad, which was quickly followed by a piece from the Nevada Democratic Party attacking Porter for his stand on Social Security and for a vote he cast excluding mental health benefits from a bill.

The national Republican Party countered that ad with a piece criticizing Herrera for alleged unethical behavior. This involved a consulting contract he entered with the Las Vegas Housing Authority without the agency board's knowledge, and a vote he cast on the County Commission that was helpful to his wife's clients.

Herrera then enlisted former Sen. Richard Bryan to call that ad a misrepresentation and Democrats responded with a piece suggesting Porter, a district manager for an insurance company, failed to vote on bills involving the insurance industry.

On Tuesday, Porter, 47, hired an attorney to try to get the ads changed or taken off the air. Porter's votes were actually recorded as not voting, even though he disclosed his work in the insurance field and abstained from the matters.

"I think the negative commercials that Dario's been running really show the difference between us," Porter said. "Unlike Dario, who doesn't think he should abstain, I had no problem with not voting."

Herrera, 29, said he was the candidate being attacked, based on the national Republican ad.

"From Day 1 we've been talking about the issues that are important to Nevada families," Herrera said, shortly before a pep talk to Democratic faithful gathered at party headquarters on Eastern Avenue. "The powerful special interests are attacking me, but that's nothing compared to the powerful special interests that attack Nevada families every day."