Regents support a Rogers run for governor

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.

University regents appointed businessman Jim Rogers as permanent chancellor less than a month ago, but some regents are thinking Gov. Rogers might have a nicer ring to it.

The multimillionaire media mogul turned volunteer chancellor has been encouraged to run for the top executive position by current Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, and several regents are saying it might be a good idea to have another pro-education person leading the state, even if it means having to replace Rogers as chancellor sooner than his current three-year commitment.

The question Rogers and regents are mulling is where he can do the system the most good.

"I don't want to be governor just to be governor," said Rogers, a registered Republican who insists he has no political aspirations. "The only way I could be convinced to run is if I could do more for education being governor than chancellor."

Rogers also said he would have to have "the blessings and support of the Board of Regents" because he has already committed to the chancellor position through 2008 and told regents truthfully that he had no interest in running for governor.

"My word is important to me," Rogers said.

Of the nine regents reached for comment on Friday, most said they were genuinely torn on the issue, having just appointed Rogers as chancellor. But most also leaned toward giving Rogers the green light to enter the governor's race, and Regents Doug Hill and Thalia Dondero said Rogers should go for it.

"It would be a terrible, terrible loss to higher education to lose Jim Rogers as chancellor. On the other hand the Nevada System of Higher Education's loss would be a gain for the entire state of Nevada," said Hill, who first suggested Rogers for governor back in February.

"... It would be foolish of the Board of Regents not to support Jim Rogers in a race for governor because that would be in the best interest of education for this entire state."

Hill and several other regents said it has been Guinn's support of education that has been instrumental in moving the state forward, and that were worried about what might happen if someone less friendly to education is elected. Guinn served as superintendent for the Clark County School District and was interim president at UNLV in 1994 before he made his bid for governor.

In addition to Hill and Dondero, Regents Jill Derby, Howard Rosenberg, Jack Lund Schofield and James Dean Leavitt all said they were open to the idea of Rogers running for governor.

Regents Steve Sisolak, Mark Alden and Bret Whipple, however, said they'd prefer to keep Rogers as chancellor.

Sisolak questioned whether the broader responsibilities of being governor might take Rogers away from his commitment to education. He said the students were "best served with Jim Rogers as chancellor for the next three years."

Alden said Rogers had too much he wanted to get done as chancellor to think about being governor.

"He would never leave a job unfinished," Alden said. "He's just not that way."

Sisolak and Leavitt both also said they were concerned that Rogers was even considering running for governor after he adamantly swore he had no interest in the position during his interview for chancellor.

At the same time, Leavitt and other regents said Rogers would still have a good year to give to the system, and that if Rogers can do more good as governor, it might be worth the cost of another chancellor search.

"The benefit to the state would outweigh the detriment to the higher education system," Leavitt said.