Dean’s LV supporters will now back Kerry

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 11:38 a.m.

Many of Howard Dean's top supporters in Nevada defected on Tuesday, saying they'll support Sen. John Kerry in his bid for the Democratic nomination.

"This is a celebration and a consolidation of a cause," said Las Vegas attorney John Hunt, who made an unsuccessful attempt in 2002 for the state attorney general's office.

Hunt and others who led Nevada's campaign to elect Dean met Tuesday to announce their decision.

Most Dean supporters in Nevada have switched their support, Hunt said.

But some supporters, like the former Vermont governor himself, don't want to give up yet, Hunt said. He said he understands that Dean wants to stay in the race to push his ideals.

"If he wants to continue his message so it can become more of the party platform, hats off to him," Hunt said.

Now, local Dean supporters said they will work to ensure that the first-time political activists who were motivated by Dean's message won't give up on politics.

Peggy Maze Johnson, the executive director of Citizen Alert, a group opposed to the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository, said she was encouraged to see people motivated by Dean who typically sit on the political sidelines.

"It is an unforgiving process," Johnson said of politics. "But I think the bottom line is we have to look at the prize, and that's getting rid of George Bush."