Columnist Jeff German: Three-horse race shaping up in GOP

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt doesn't like the perception that her Republican campaign for governor in 2006 is going nowhere.

That's the word from one of her top campaign aides following Sunday's column that suggested her candidacy hasn't excited the Republican she's looking to replace, Gov. Kenny Guinn.

I reported Sunday that Guinn, backed by some heavy-duty party stalwarts, is looking for a stronger candidate to challenge the front-runner, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who seems to be stumbling on the campaign trail.

Guinn isn't a fan of the ultra-conservative Gibbons. But he's concerned that Hunt, whom he likes, may not have enough to best the congressman in the Republican primary.

So the governor is trying to coax university system Chancellor Jim Rogers, who doubles as a media mogul, into the race. And Rogers is listening.

But in an e-mail, Yale Cunningham, the Southern Nevada campaign coordinator for Hunt, says Hunt remains serious about running and plans to pick up the pace.

The lieutenant governor, Cunningham explains, is encouraged by a just-released Reno Gazette-Journal poll that shows her down 37 percent to 21 percent in a primary with Gibbons. Las Vegas Assemblyman Bob Beers got 3 percent, and the rest were undecided.

Previous polls showed Hunt much farther behind Gibbons.

"Trailing by 16 percent with around 40 percent undecided is basically where Lorraine Hunt expected to be right now," Cunningham writes. "In fact, given Gibbons' significant campaign efforts to date, I suspect he may be very disappointed with his showing in the most recent poll."

Then Cunningham adds:

"When the (legislative) session ends and the lieutenant governor is allowed to accept campaign contributions and begins vigorously campaigning, the numbers separating the two will inevitably shrink."

That could very well happen. But there's a broader view that the Gazette-Journal poll is more a reflection of Gibbons' negatives than Hunt's positives.

There is growing concern within the GOP that Gibbons has become a loose cannon.

He can't stop making gaffes.

During a speech to the Las Vegas Rotary last week, Gibbons cited the wrong hourly rate when criticizing efforts to raise Nevada's minimum wage. He said the rate was $6.25 an hour when it really was $5.15. That's someone who's out of touch with reality.

The problem, however, for Guinn and company is that Gibbons, despite his flaws, still has a strong following within the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

So if Gibbons is going to be knocked off in the primary, it's going to take someone with the resources of Rogers to do it. Rogers is wealthy enough to finance his own campaign.

I like the enthusiasm of Hunt and her aides.

But if things work out the way Guinn hopes, Hunt will be more valuable to her party throwing her support to Rogers.