Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.
Republican candidate Joe Heck has gained some name recognition through a nasty campaign being waged against his opponent in Senate District 5 -- but on Thursday he said he doesn't like it.
"It's been an unfortunate turn of events in this campaign," said Heck, a Republican challenging longtime Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas.
Republicans in the district have been deluged with ads paid for by a group called Citizens for Fair Taxation. They criticize O'Connell for supporting a tax bill in the last legislative session that could have cost at least $1.6 billion during a two-year budget period.
While Heck maintains he has nothing to do with the group, recent mail pieces have used pictures of him and his family while touting his record.
O'Connell questioned him about it Thursday in a debate taped by KLVX Channel 10. She said Republicans should be wary of Heck because he is backed by gaming interests and unions.
"Citizens for Fair Taxation is nothing but a gaming PAC," she said.
Heck said O'Connell's allegation that he is a straw man for the gaming industry "couldn't be further from the truth." His campaign, he said, enjoys broad-based support, including from police and firefighter unions.
A check of Heck's campaign finance reports shows that about $57,000 of the almost $170,000 Heck has raised came from gaming companies. Campaign reports for the Citizens for Fair Taxation are not yet posted on the Internet.
O'Connell, in comparison, raised much of her almost $350,000 from other business interests, especially the development community.
After the debate, Heck said he is not working with Citizens for Fair Taxation and had "no idea how they're getting our photos." Some, he said, might have been obtained from a Web site or mail pieces his own campaign has sent out.
Heck said he wishes the group weren't involved in the campaign.
"Our goal was to run on facts and issues," he said.
Lesley Pittman, vice president for corporate and government relations for Station Casinos, one of the companies that has contributed to Citizens for Fair Taxation, said she wasn't sure how the committee obtained the photos of Heck.
"I can assure you there has been no contact between Citizens for Fair Taxation and the (Heck) campaign," she said. "Joe Heck knows nothing of what Citizens for Fair Taxation is doing."
Also at the debate Thursday, Heck said he would fight for small businesses and to improve health care. He said he wants to cap property taxes at the cost of living and would not have supported such a large tax increase in the last legislative session as the $833 million increase that was passed.
"As a physician, I know our health care system is currently broken," he said.
O'Connell said she supports a property tax cap, but a cost of living cap might not be enough to pay for all of the government debts that property taxes cover. She supports cutting taxes in the next legislative session because the government has a surplus.
Several other Senate primary debates were held Thursday, including those for candidates seeking to represent:
Chris Colasuono said he would look at state prescription drug plans such as one in Illinois so that Nevada's prescription drug programs could use drugs imported from Canada. John Lee, a former assemblyman, criticized the incumbent in the district, Sen. Ray Shaffer, R-North Las Vegas, for missing the final vote in the last legislative session on the tax cut. Shaffer was on a trip to Hawaii.
"I would have stayed and done my job," said Lee, who said he didn't miss a vote in his three terms in the Assembly. "I would have not been AWOL."
Gary Rogers said he would have pushed to tax more "controversial" items during the last legislative session instead of taxing businesses.
Mike Schaefer said that small businesses have been adversely affected by the payroll tax and increased business license fees.
"We need more exemptions and incentives for those of us who are trying to survive in this business world," Schaefer said.
Democrat Sharon Shaffer, who would face her husband, Ray Shaffer, in the general election if she wins in the primary, refuted accusations that she would not run a hard campaign in the general election.
"I am certainly going to pursue the Democratic seat on Nov. 2, contrary to what has been said," she said. "I would not let any Democrat waste a vote in the primary."
Cedric Crear advocated a broad-based business tax to increase education funding. He said he is running partly because he didn't like the "partisan bickering" during last year's contentious tax debate.
Steven Horsford continued plugging his idea to create a state lottery to help fund education.
"We are only funding education on growth, not on quality," he said.
Board of Regents member Linda Howard has proposed increasing gaming taxes for education and said she wants to track money that's going into the district for social programs.
"I hear about all this money coming into Senate District 4, and my question is: Where is it going?" she asked.
Bert Mack, an attorney, said he would support more money for mental health facilities in Nevada, where mentally ill patients have filled emergency rooms.
"We do have a social obligation to the care of our citizens," he said.
Theresa "Terri" Malone, a member of the state Board of Education, said she would work in the first week of the Legislature to enact a cap on property taxes, an idea supported by several other candidates in the race.
She advocated conducting more public meetings when the legislature is discussing issues such as the tax increase passed last year.
"The public had no voice in what was going on," she said.
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