GOP leaders say Kerry’s Yucca pledge a campaign issue

Thursday, May 20, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, both Republicans, say that Sen. John Kerry's pledge to stop Yucca Mountain if he is elected president will be a campaign issue in Nevada this election.

Both Guinn and Sandoval side with Kerry in opposition to the high-level nuclear waste dump, but they said the voters in Nevada should consider all of the issues, not just one.

Sandoval is head of President Bush's re-election effort in Nevada. Sandoval said he is fully committed to the defeat of Yucca Mountain, which is now in a federal appeals court.

Kerry, in a visit to Las Vegas, said Sunday, "Rest assured, Nevada, if I'm the president of the United States, Yucca Mountain will not be a repository."

Bush last year approved the designation of Yucca Mountain as the site for the repository.

Sandoval said voters would have to decide if the Kerry statement is a "valid pledge."

At the state Republican convention, the members voted for a plank in the party platform that says the state should negotiate with the federal government over benefits for Yucca Mountain, despite the opposition to the plank by high-ranking Republicans.

Greg Bortolin, press secretary for the governor, said Yucca Mountain would "obviously be a factor" in the election campaign.

But the governor feels Nevadans should make a decision for president on "the entire package and not one issue," Bortolin said, adding the governor doesn't think the Kerry statement will hurt the president in Nevada.

The governor agrees with the president more than he disagrees, Bortolin said.

"The governor has excellent access to the administration on multiple issues, such as homeland security, the Department of Interior, wild horses and environmental decisions," he said.

Yucca Mountain is an important issue and the governor has stood up to the president, Bortolin said.

"But you have to look at the entire picture," he said.

Sandoval said Yucca Mountain is one issue but the voters have to decide also who is better for the economy, for taxes, for education and health care.