Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 10:53 a.m.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has taken his first step toward running for governor by forming a steering committee to test the waters for a "statewide race," spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said Tuesday.
Gibbons still plans to wait to make an official announcement on whether he will run until late spring or early summer, Spanbauer said.
"He hasn't made any decisions at this time," she said.
Gibbons already has high-powered allies on board: former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, now a political consultant in Washington, and long-time GOP political king-maker Sig Rogich. The two will help lead the committee, Spanbauer said.
Other committee members from throughout Nevada will be announced later this year, she said.
Gibbons' Nevada-based chief of staff Robert Uithoven will direct the day-to-day operations of the committee, likely beginning in February. Spanbauer will be the new chief of staff.
Steering committees are typically formed to gauge a candidate's chances and assess fund-raising pools. Spanbauer declined to offer details about Gibbons' fund-raising strategy.
Gibbons has long been considered a top Republican choice to replace Gov. Kenny Guinn. Speculation has focused on Gibbons since he declined to challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in the 2004 election, although observers said he was also the GOP's top choice for that race.
Instead of running against Reid, Gibbons won an easy re-election bid and pushed the campaign supporting the "Education First" initiative, which would force the Legislature to pass school budgets before any other finance bill. The initiative, which he sponsored, came after the 2003 Legislature's tax battle left education funding hanging in the balance.
Rogich was one of the most instrumental people behind Guinn's election.
Rogich, who has served as Gibbons' state finance director, said the steering committee moves Gibbons "in that direction" toward running for governor, though Rogich said he help Gibbons with his finances no matter which office he chooses to pursue. "Whatever he decides to do in the future, my role will transcend to that spot," Rogich said. Rogich pointed out that Gibbons is very popular in the state, especially among rural Nevadans. He called Gibbons' record in Congress "admirable" and said Gibbons has especially focused on mining and ranching issues that affect Nevada. "There's really no negative issue about him if you look at his history as a Congressman and an Assemblyman," Rogich said. "I think he enjoys the support neccesary to become governor if he decides that's what he intends to do."
Rogich's efforts to draw bipartisan support from different sectors for Guinn in 1998 was called an "annointment" by political commentator Jon Ralston. Rogich said he thinks Gibbons can draw similar support. "Some call it annointment, others call it electability," he said.
In a November interview, Rogich said Gibbons, a former fighter pilot in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, built a groundwork of support in Congress, especially outside of Clark County.
"He comes in here with no negatives," Rogich said. "He's probably the most popular elected official in rural Nevada."
Rogich was one of the first political insiders to tap Guinn as the person to run for the open governor seat in 1998.
Starting in 1996, he rounded up a coalition of the state's business, union and political leaders to back Guinn. The move was bipartisan and propelled Guinn, a former UNLV president and longtime community activist, into his first public office.
One person who Rogich recruited to support Guinn was Democratic ad-man Billy Vassiliadis, who said he expects to be involved in the 2006 gubernatorial race but has not announced yet who he will support.
Vassiliadis said he doesn't think the stars will align as easily for Gibbons as they did for Guinn, whose philanthropist background appealed to people in business, labor, gaming and politics.
"Kenny Guinn was a very unique, probably once-in-a-lifetime candidate in that he had never run for public office," Vassiliadis said. "He was a community pillar for many, many, many years -- the kind of guy who normally doesn't run for public office.
"He was just a completely different person and not typical in the political sense. Everybody who's talking now has a political background. They've got pluses or minuses. There's nobody right now that's got the blank slate that Kenny Guinn did."
One advantage Gibbons does have over others who are floating a gubernatorial race is his war chest.
He would be dramatically aided by legislation passed by Congress without debate just a few months ago in the final days of the session that allows federal lawmakers to use money they raised for a congressional seat to be used instead for a statewide race.
As of Nov. 22, Gibbons had $476,802 in his congressional coffer, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Most of the other major candidates who have indicated they might run are somehow involved in the Legislature and will have to stop raising money on Friday -- 30 days before the legislative session begins.
State law prohibits legislators from raising money 30 days before and 30 days after a session.
Those affected include Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson; Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas; and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, a Republican who already has announced her intentions to run.
Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, a Democrat, also has floated his name but could continue raising money this winter and spring.
archive
