Columnist Jon Ralston: On party donations, Hunt’s bid for governor and the GOP Web site

Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 | 7:25 a.m.

Jon Ralston hosts the news discussion program Face to Face with Jon Ralston on Las Vegas ONE and also publishes the daily e-mail newsletter RalstonFlash.com. His column for the Las Vegas Sun appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com.

It's the day before Thanksgiving, so here are some appetizers before the big feast ...

Nevadans pony up for federal campaigns: Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson coughed up $15,000 last month to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the largest donation by a Nevadan to the partisan PAC in October, according to PoliticalMoney Line (www.tray.com).

Adelson gave about a third of the total contributed by Nevadans to the NRCC last month, with significantly less generous donations coming from builder J.A Tiberti ($301) and ex-Rep. Barbara Vucanovich ($101). Neither of those two, I believe, is a billionaire.

Nevadans were much stingier when it came to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last month, with five unknowns giving $1,100. Could this be a danger sign for Rep. Shelley Berkley?

Nevadans gave just under $44,000 to the Republican National Committee in October, including $15,000 from American Pacific Chief Executive John Gibson (don't tell Dina Titus because that's Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson's uncle).

Also contributing were longtime GOP activist Bill Laub, the retired Nevada Power executive who gave $250, and well-known restaurateur Battista Locatelli, who also donated $250 to the Republicans. A more frugal County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury gave $100 to the RNC.

Nevadans only gave a fourth as much to the Democratic National Committee in October, with ex-Democratic Party Chairman Richard Segerblom, who is running for the Assembly next year, giving $125. County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, apparently strapped because she is spending so much on rent, could only afford $25.

Up and running? Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt is routinely ignored in chatter about the 2006 governor's race, with much of the talk centering on whether Mayor Oscar Goodman will run (Go, Big O, go!) and when Titus will next attack Gibson. The GOP primary is considered by many a non-event, with Rep. Jim Gibbons' money likely to swamp Hunt and state Sen. Bob Beers.

But this week Hunt made it clear she really is running by erecting a campaign Web site (www.huntforgovernor.com) with her old slogan: "Commitment Not Politics." Whatever that means.

In a letter on the site, Hunt talks about her desire to become the state's first female governor and her proven vote-getting abilities in statewide elections. But my favorite part of the site is the picture at the top of the home page, which shows Hunt at a news conference with three other politicians -- all Democrats. They are: Gates, Goodman and County Commissioner Rory Reid.

Perhaps they have all endorsed her?

Now what was that other part? Speaking of Web sites, I got a kick out of the latest installment on the Nevada Republican Party's home page. The GOP has a section that informs us about the recent news that Gov. Kenny Guinn was named one of the nation's top five governors. The site then provides an excerpt (or, as the site says, "extract") from the piece.

What's remarkable -- or not -- is that somehow it avoids all mention of the main reason the magazine gave Guinn the honor. That is, this part of the piece, the main thrust:

"As Guinn enters the final year of his busy two terms in office, his signature achievement remains the $830 million tax hike, a still controversial but realistic step to shore up the overstretched budget of the nation's fastest-growing state. ... Still, no matter how he went about it, Guinn managed to put Nevada's long-term fiscal health above his own or his party's political considerations."

Now I wonder why that part was, ahem, extracted?