Titus kicks off campaign

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus of Las Vegas is nothing if not tenacious.

The 55-year-old Democrat has made it clear that she wants to be Nevada's first female governor, despite political watchers who have said 2006 is not her year.

Even her home answering machine has assured callers for weeks that, yes, she is in the race.

And as she officially kicked off her campaign in Southern Nevada on Monday, she portrayed herself as a fighter -- a centrist with streaks of independence, just like Nevada.

It was reminiscent of one of the state's most popular Democrats, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., whose slogan in his 2004 re-election was "Independent like Nevada."

"That's government's job -- educate the children, lock up the bad guys and promote the common good," Titus told supporters in her signature Georgia drawl on Monday. "Then get out of the way and let people run their own lives."

Her campaign kickoff -- along with her pledge to court rural voters -- left some scratching their heads.

"It sounds like a Republican, almost," said Eric Herzik, professor of political science at UNR. "It will be interesting to see if the opposition research lets her get away with that."

Titus will likely face Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, in a Democratic gubernatorial primary. Perkins has not officially declared his candidacy.

Titus said Monday that their voting records mostly match up, meaning the race will come down more to "style and personal qualifications."

"Your experience, your integrity, things like that," Titus said.

Titus used the word "fight" four times in her first official campaign speech.

"I've taken on -- and won -- a lot of tough fights in my life, and I expect this to be the toughest," she told supporters at the Cambridge Community Center in her Las Vegas Senate district.

In the last legislative session, Titus was often the last to give up on her bills or to leave the building at night. On weekends, she often campaigned in rural areas instead of taking a weekend respite to Las Vegas, as most lawmakers did.

Titus pushed a property tax freeze that was defeated by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, but she was so tireless that Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, credited her with shaping the debate on the issue.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, who supports Titus, said she gets some of her spirit from leading a minority caucus.

Titus learns issues backwards and forwards yet doesn't get bogged down in details, Coffin said. And she has learned to deal with a caucus that often divides on issues, he said.

"She pushes her power as far as it will allow her," Coffin said. "She's been cautious to the extent that she hasn't always had unanimous support in the caucus. But that hasn't held her back -- she's gone ahead as if she had 100 percent."

Titus probably won't face an obstacle as a woman, even though Nevada hasn't elected a female governor or U.S. senator, UNR's Herzik said.

He points out that Nevada has already had a female lieutenant governor, attorney general and, next legislative session, will likely have a female Assembly speaker.

And Titus arguably has the most established base of any Democrat, Herzik said.

"She has the best grass-roots base, no doubt," he said.

The catch, Herzik said, is capturing conservative Democrats who might vote for Perkins in the primary.

Titus is perhaps best known as the proponent of the so-called "ring around the valley" that would have restricted growth within certain boundaries. The plan did not pass, though a Regional Planning Commission was later formed to deal with growth issues.

It will be interesting to see how developers react to Titus' candidacy, Herzik said.

Titus didn't list growth among her top issues, though she did say she would take a bigger role as governor in developing water use and even in planning issues.

Titus, meanwhile, is making a pitch to voters in rural Nevada, where Republicans not only outnumber Democrats but turn up more often to the polls.

She first announced her candidacy Sunday in Douglas County, the most Republican county in the state.

"It's also to blunt the Las Vegas label that's just written across her forehead," Herzik said.

While Herzik said Titus must be careful not to ignore her base in Clark County, longtime pollster Kent Oram said Titus must attend to rural counties if she hopes to win a general election against a Republican.

Republicans in the race likely will include Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas.

If Gibbons emerges from the primary, he will already have a strong base in rural counties, Oram pointed out.

And there's an old saying, he said: You cannot buy the rurals. In other words, no amount of expensive television or radio commercials can substitute for taking the long trip north, he said.

"You've got to go town by town by town," he said. "Go to their meetings and meet people and shake their hands. That takes quite a while."

Several other names have been floated as potential Democratic foes, including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson.

Gibson has said he will make a decision by next month on whether to run for governor.

While Oram has been rumored to be encouraging Goodman to jump into the race, he said he isn't recruiting any candidate. But he has been vocal that Goodman's numbers show he would be one of the strongest Democratic candidates.

"Oscar's awfully popular," Oram said. "I think Oscar Goodman would have a hell of a shot."