Editorial: ‘06 could be interesting

Thursday, July 7, 2005 | 8:48 a.m.

State Sen. Bob Beers of Las Vegas has announced he will seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2006, creating what could be a free-for-all in the GOP primary. Beers has been a staunch opponent of government spending, a view he shares with U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who also is expected to run for governor. Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, a moderate Republican, is likely to run for the state's top post, too. And university system Chancellor Jim Rogers, a successful businessman, and former Lt. Gov. Bob Cashell, now the mayor of Reno, have been encouraged by Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn to consider a run. Guinn, a moderate, frequently has been at odds with Beers and Gibbons, who have criticized his decision to raise taxes so that government services can keep pace with the explosion in growth.

Beers' decision to enter the race is relatively safe. He was elected just last year to a four-year term as state senator, so he still will have a seat in the Legislature even if he loses. Nevertheless, it is intriguing that Beers, who is not as well-known throughout Nevada as Gibbons is, would take on someone whose anti-government views are so similar to his. It's very possible that because of these similarities, the campaigning between Gibbons and Beers could get personal -- and negative -- as each fights to tap the same base of ultraconservatives in the Republican Party. Both, as a result, could end up badly scarred if the campaigning were to get vicious.

Democrats, who currently are shut out of the state's six constitutional offices -- governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and controller -- must be salivating at the prospect of a brutal Republican primary. But Democrats could have a nasty scrap of their own in the making, with Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins of Henderson and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus of Las Vegas vying to be the Democratic nominee for governor. Whoever wins the Democratic primary could be limping into the general election.

What genuinely is refreshing about the campaigns taking shape for governor is that, unlike in many recent elections, voters in both parties likely will have real choices. In today's world of politics, nasty attack ads seem to be the rule, but our hope is that the candidates in both parties will keep the campaigning on a higher plane, so that the people of this state can see a real debate about Nevada's future.