Candidates’ filing period to begin on Monday

Kirsten Searer

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 10:52 a.m.

Voters should be prepared for a surprise or two in the coming weeks, when candidates must file their intentions to run for office.

The filing begins Monday and runs through May 14.

Already pundits have pegged the major races to watch up and down the ballot, starting with the Supreme Court seats, where some would-be justices could spend $1 million each on their nonpartisan campaigns.

The interest goes all the way down to the legislative races, where incumbents will be waiting to see if voters will show displeasure with the tax-hike gridlock that marked proceedings in Carson City last session.

Democrats say they should easily keep their majority in the Assembly, but some lower-chamber Republicans hope for a backlash against the majority party members perceived to have supported excess taxes. The count is now 23 Democrats to 19 Republicans.

"I would say it's 50-50 or better that we can make it to the majority," Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, said.

Nevada is expected to be a battleground state in the presidential campaign.

But even local and Legislative races could be decided by the state's tight registration numbers. Statewide, Republicans outnumber Democrats by just about 9,000 people.

"I think we're in for a real roller coaster campaign season," said campaign consultant Billy Vassiliadis.

Congress

After winning two tough challenges, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., seems to have scared off any challengers.

"She definitely, I think, has shown that she's not going to be beat by a Republican in that district," consultant Mike Sullivan said.

It also appears that Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., will go unchallenged.

That leaves Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., facing former gaming executive and Democrat Tom Gallagher, who already has raised more than $425,000, including $200,000 of his own money.

Porter does a good job of communicating his message to voters, so Gallagher must carve out a "compelling reason" for voters to oust Porter, political consultant Sig Rogich said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also faces a challenge from Republican Richard Ziser, who led the statewide initiative to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

State senate

Republicans currently hold a 13-8 majority in the Senate. Each party hopes to pick up at least a seat or two this race.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus has marked this seat as her top target and has recruited former assemblyman and business owner John Lee to run against Shaffer. Also in the race is Mike Schaefer, a perennial candidate and disbarred attorney.

Former Station Casinos manager Cedric Crear has the support of some gaming companies, Nevada Partners CEO Steven Horsford likely will snag endorsements from unions, and Regent Linda Howard could get Neal's nod. Board of Education member Terri Malone and Democratic activist Bert Mack also have thrown in their names.

"You've got two young viable candidates and you have Linda Howard who, I think, gains the benefit of having two attractive male candidates," Rogich said. "So I think she's kind of a sleeper in that race."

O'Connell, whose husband recently died, is receiving a boost from fellow Republican senators Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, and Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who have both walked O'Connell's district to meet with voters.

Insiders say that polls show Beers would hold a clear lead over Rawson if a primary race were held today. But this contest has just begun.

Rawson, who resigned his highly-paid position as a Community College of Southern Nevada professor to ensure he didn't violate Attorney General Brian Sandoval's recent ruling that executive-branch employees, including college professors, are constitutionally prohibited from serving in the Legislature, clearly is gearing up for a fight.

Meanwhile, accountant and Democrat Todd Allen is hoping to serve a viable challenge to the Republican primary winner.

Strangely enough, Rawson, who also has served in the Senate since 1985, might not have the same name recognition that Beers enjoys because Beers was a leader in battling last year's tax increases, Rogich said.

"Beers has received an extraordinary amount of good press because he was positioned on the tax debate," Rogich said.

This is another battle that will tap into the trauma legislators and voters suffered last year during the tax debate, several consultants said. Both men will need to walk their districts, Vassiliadis said.

"One wonderful thing about Nevada is it's a small state," he said. "These districts are still relatively small. Legislators can go meet their constituents."

Schneider could surprise people in the coming weeks -- he said he is still contemplating a run for the County Commission seat now held by Lynette Boggs McDonald.

Assembly

Several key races will determine whether Democrats will retain their majority:

Three Republicans are dueling for the seat: Retired veteran Ed Gobel, registered nurse Bill Dolan and business owner Steven Saul. On the Democratic side North Las Vegas planning commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick and businessman Brent Howard both are planning runs.

Regents

Regent seats rarely receive public focus, but after the scandals involving the Community College of Southern Nevada, regents might see more people filing in the coming weeks to fill their seats.

Regents Douglas Seastrand, Steve Sisolak, Thomas Kirkpatrick, Marcia Bandera and Douglas Roman Hill are up for re-election.

Former congressman Jim Bilbray, who began his political career as a regent, is weighing a run but said Thursday that he hadn't decided yet.

Supreme Court

These seats could turn out to be expensive, which is bad news for justices who are uncomfortable trolling the political circuits for donations.

"It's not quite the same as giving to a candidate who you then lobby and is going to make decisions that affect you," Sullivan said.

Insiders pick Hardesty as the favorite right now, but Steel is known as a tough campaigner.

He will face private entertainment attorney John Mason and Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith.