Krolicki delays revealing plans for election

Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State Treasurer Brian Krolicki said today that he won't announce his apparent intention to run for lieutenant governor until later this week.

"I know the rumor is out there, but it's not going to happen today," the two-term Republican treasurer said about a report that he would make the announcement today.

Krolicki is barred from running for a third term as treasurer by the Nevada Constitution, and it has been rumored he was looking at either Congress or the lieutenant governor post.

Krolicki said this morning that he has made his decision but didn't want to announce it today because "today is for the Legislature," which was to open its session at noon, he said.

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, also a Republican, is also prohibited from a third term and she is considering a run for governor.

Steve Hill of Las Vegas announced in 2003 that he is seeking the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. So has Robert Goodman, a Democrat, and former director of the state Commission on Economic Development.

Hill, president of Silver State Material, a concrete supply company, has raised about $600,000 for his campaign, saying he needed to create name recognition for himself.

Hill said this morning he had heard for a few days that Krolicki is eyeing the lieutenant governor's seat.

"Brian's been shopping for political races for a while," Hill said. "I knew this was a possibility."

Hill said he expects the race to cost him more than $1 million, perhaps $1.5 million, partly because of a competitive Republican primary. Even more candidates could jump in, he said.

"It's a high-profile race. It's an important job," he said.

Krolicki, who lives at Lake Tahoe, was deputy treasurer before he was elected treasurer.

His office is in charge of the state's investments, the Millennium Scholarship and the unclaimed property program.

He has proposed the issuance of a $100 million bond issue to rescue the Millennium Scholarship program that is in financial trouble because money from the tobacco settlement is not coming in fast enough.

He suggested taking about one-third of the unclaimed property money each year to pay off the bond issue. But he said he would support an alternate suggestion to using $100 million in cash to set up a fund to finance the Millennium Scholarships.

Other programs under his office are the Nevada College Savings Trust, the Higher Education Tuition Administration and the Municipal Bond Bank.