Powerful bipartisan group backs Perkins’ fund-raiser

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

Many of the state's most powerful people are supporting a fund-raiser for Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins this evening, but several said they don't view the event as a kickoff to the 2006 governor's race.

Perkins, D-Henderson, plans a run in two years, when the seat will be vacated by two-term Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn.

But he said he is holding the event because "right now, I'm in an Assembly race." He is facing a challenge from Republican Steve Grierson.

The list of people lending their names to the Perkins fund-raiser is bipartisan and includes casino executives, political consultants, labor activists, lobbyists and various other notables, including former governors Richard Bryan and Bob Miller.

The suggested donation is $2,500.

The fund-raiser raised eyebrows because some of the same people attending were the ones who, in 1996, recruited Guinn to run for governor. Their help -- and Guinn's early entry in the race -- helped the former Clark County schools superintendent and business leader win the 1998 election.

One of them, Republican consultant Sig Rogich, said his endorsement of the Perkins event has nothing to do with the upcoming governor's race.

Rogich and several others said the Perkins fund-raiser was coordinated partly to recognize Perkins for his work during last year's tough legislative session.

"I'm not involved in his plans for governorship, but I'm committed to him because we've been close, close friends for a long time," Rogich said. "I think he does an exceptional job as speaker."

Democratic consultant Billy Vassiliadis, another important strategist who supported Guinn in his race, said he is lending his name to the event because he hopes to see Perkins remain as speaker.

"Richard is being viewed as very straightforward and honest," Vassiliadis said. "And he is not averse to taking positions that may not be popular if he thinks they're right. He tells people up front how he thinks."

Vassiliadis said the support for the event tonight "is a nice message for (Perkins)," but he pointed out that the governor's race is still two years away.

Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada State AFL-CIO and another person supporting the event, said that Perkins "showed real leadership and people realized that" in the last legislative session.

"As much as people think he's running for governor, and that might happen, people also recognize that during that whole crisis he was the one who was willing to do the right thing," Thompson said. "I would like to keep him as speaker."

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she is not intimidated by Perkins' fund-raiser. She could face Perkins in a Democratic primary for the governorship in 2006 and said she hopes to hold a fund-raiser early this summer.

"I'm sure you'll see some of those exact same people on mine," she said.

She pointed out that the invitation stated the event was being held to honor "Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins."

"I don't believe that anybody's going to turn down the speaker," she said.

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, another Democrat planning a run to be governor, said he's not concerned about the support Perkins is getting.

"I'm not aware of an anointment" in the governor's race, Gibson said. "I think there is still a lot of discussion to be had."

A potential Republican nominee for the governor race, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also held a recent successful fund-raiser that netted $50,000.00