Bilbray plans run for regent

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

Former Rep. Jim Bilbray said Monday he is considering a run for the university regent seat held by Tom Kirkpatrick.

Bilbray, a Las Vegas native and former regent, said returning to public life on the university system Board of Regents would bring him full circle in his political career.

"I never intended to run for office again," said Bilbray, 65, who started his political career in 1968 as a regent and ended it in 1994, when he was defeated by John Ensign after serving eight years in the House.

Business people, former regents and others in the community have urged Bilbray to run for regent, he said. Dissension on the board, marked by public battles among regents, has been evident, Bilbray said.

"I would hope the board members will accept me as neutral and work together with the best interest of the university at heart," he said.

Bilbray said the current 13-member board should not try to "micromanage" the two universities and five community colleges in the state.

"You let the deans and the administrators administer the university," he said. A regent's job is to set policy, he said.

Bilbray said he favors reducing the size of the board and appointing, rather than electing, regents.

Kirkpatrick, a retired UNLV professor, said he was not surprised Bilbray is interested in his seat.

"It's a seat, anybody can run for it," Kirkpatrick said. "I like Jim. I've known him for a long time. He'll have to get up pretty early to file before I do."

Bilbray is heading the John Kerry presidential campaign in Nevada, a role that could affect his decision to pursue a regent's seat.

"I've got to talk to the Kerry people," he said. "I want to see Kerry elected."

Bilbray said he will make a decision by the time the filing period opens May 3.

Born May 19, 1938, Bilbray, the son of a longtime Clark County assessor, served in the Clark County district attorney's office from 1965 until 1967, then Juvenile Court until 1968.

He was elected to the Board of Regents in 1968, and was an alternate Las Vegas municipal judge from 1978 to 1980.

Bilbray was elected to the House in 1986 after serving a stint in the state Senate and as chairman of the Taxation Committee there.

Bilbray has served on academic boards at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

He served as student body president at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, when it was Nevada Southern University, from 1959 to 1960. He also founded the UNLV Alumni Association.03