Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 | 7:37 a.m.
By Las Vegas Sun staff
Nevada voters stared into an electoral abyss Tuesday, offered an opportunity to vote for oddballs, self-funded newcomers and a dead woman. They decided - for the most part - to step back and play it safe.
By all accounts, this year offered even more eccentrics than usual and at least two conservative ideologues. There was the rich dilettante running for lieutenant governor on a platform irrelevant to her office - stopping illegal immigration; a Democratic candidate running for treasurer with a recent bankruptcy; Bob Beers, who sprinted to the right of a conservative congressman; Bob Stupak, the card player and Stratosphere developer; and the recently deceased Kathy Augustine, just to name a few.
Of all the nontraditional candidates, the rich helicopter pilot Jerry Airola, running for Clark County sheriff, had a decent night, finishing a distant second, which qualifies him for the November election.
Sharron Angle, a far-right Republican running for Congress in Northern Nevada, funded in large part by out-of-state money connected to a conservative organization, was in a too-close-to-call race with more moderate Dean Heller.
"At the end of the drill, the more traditional candidates with more traditional funding will prevail," lobbyist and consultant Pete Ernaut predicted Monday, and he was largely right.
This is not to say that this will be a business-as-usual year, however. In a Clark County commission race, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani beat incumbent Myrna Williams. In a year of former county commissioners going to prison and a widening lobbying scandal in Washington, the Williams loss should serve as a cautionary note to incumbents.
Here's a look at some important races and how they'll shape up in November.
Governor
In November, the state's voters will face a clear choice between Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who is the state senate minority leader and a relatively liberal college professor, and Rep. Jim Gibbons, a conservative Republican congressman.
Titus has promised new spending on education, health care, energy and environmental protection. She would use the state's surplus and not new taxes to do it. If elected, she would be the state's first woman governor. She compares herself to Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona, two women governors of Republican states.
Gibbons ran in the Republican primary on a resume as a sitting congressman and former assemblyman and Air Force pilot. He didn't offer specific programs. He's promised to hold the line on state spending, though he refused to endorse the Tax and Spend Control initiative, or TASC, which was the centerpiece of the campaign of his opponent, state Sen. Bob Beers.
Chuck Muth, a longtime conservative activist who backed Beers, said he expects Gibbons to immediately draw contrasts with Titus, using his big financial advantage: "He needs to define her out of the box."
That means voters can expect to hear a lot about Titus as a "tax and spend liberal," if past Republican campaigns serve as any guide. Somewhat surprisingly, though, Gibbons said in an interview Tuesday night that he hadn't examined the Titus record.
Gibbons has raised $4 million and said he'll raise $2 million more. Titus' campaign account is about empty. David Damore, a UNLV political scientist who gave $100 to Titus, said Titus has about a month to raise the money needed to respond to the Gibbons attacks that will most likely be forthcoming.
Titus will also have to heal wounds inflicted in the primary. Mark Engel, who was at the Gibson party Tuesday night, said he's now undecided about whom he'll vote for in November. That's not a good sign for Titus, although Steve Redlinger, a Democratic consultant, said this bitterness probably applies to only a few hundred hardcore Gibson supporters and won't have an impact on November.
Titus won the Democratic primary despite being badly outspent, which indicates that even without much money she could win in November.
"To get outspent 2-to-1 and win by 20 is impressive. She ran a great campaign," Redlinger said.
Former Sen. Richard Bryan echoed those remarks: "I think she's been underestimated."
Bryan said the national mood, which favors Democrats in every poll, could propel Titus to victory.
U.S. House
Tuesday's primary set the stage for this fall's national battle for control of the House as voter unrest with President Bush and the Republican-dominated Congress give Democrats their best chance in years of wresting power.
The outcome to replace Rep. Jim Gibbons in the Republican-dominated 2nd Congressional District was still not known late Tuesday. Voters were choosing between Sharron Angle, a polarizing state legislator who attacked from the right with vast financial backing from the conservative Washington, D.C.-based Club for Growth; and the more moderate Dean Heller, the secretary of state. Former state legislator Dawn Gibbons, the congressman's wife, finished a distant third.
The Northern Nevada district, which includes all of rural Nevada, should be a lock for Republicans, but looks less so this fall. Even though Republicans vastly outnumber Democrats, the tough primary cost the party's candidates money and image. Democrat Jill Derby - who ran unopposed in the primary - goes into the race with significant money and the party's best opportunity in years.
But Derby faces an uphill battle in the deeply red 2nd Congressional district. She would need to win votes from all registered Democrats and Independents just to break even with registered Republicans, said University of Nevada Reno political scientist Eric Herzik, a Republican. "The numbers are just overwhelmingly against her," he said.
The 3rd Congressional District primary now becomes a battleground race to watch as both parties are staking their claim on Republican Rep. Jon Porter's seat as one of the most contested in the nation.
Porter will need to defend a record that has been mostly lock-step with President Bush and the Republican-led House agenda. A parade of political heavyweights are coming to stump in the politically divided district, which includes portions of Clark County and Henderson.
Porter is being challenged by Democratic upstart Tessa Hafen, the former aide to Democrat Minority Leader Harry Reid who was easily headed to victory in Tuesday's primary. Democrats have never been lucky in the district. Porter has won twice since it was created 2002. Hafen must convince voters she is Congress-ready even though she has never held elected office.
In Nevada's 1st Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Shelley Berkley is expected to coast to victory.
U.S. Senate
Jimmy Carter's son Jack Carter, a relatively new Nevadan, is running against Sen. John Ensign. Although Carter has an uphill hike in front of him to beat the incumbent, he's raised more than $1 million, and Ensign has consistently failed to reach 50 percent in recent polls. Carter is setting himself up as a fiscally conservative, socially liberal Democrat calling for a change in direction in Iraq. Ensign is a down-the-line conservative who said a few months ago that critics of the war embolden America's enemies.
Clark County sheriff
The race has become what pundits predicted and Metro management feared: Undersheriff Doug Gillespie, the establishment candidate, will face off with millionaire businessman Jerry Airola, a helicopter pilot with a thin police resume.
Voters choosing between the two will find themselves weighing the virtues of status quo candidate Gillespie, handpicked by Sheriff Bill Young, against the Midas appeal of outsider Airola, who courted voters with his heavy coffers and kept their attention with allegations that Metro is a good ol' boy mess.
The now familiar stump songs - Gillespie's more than 27 years of experience at Metro and Airola's claims of gutter politics and sky-high crime rates - will play at a louder pitch for voters who listen when glazing over glossy mailers and soft-focus commercials.
Ultimately, becoming the valley's top cop could be a question of bottom lines. Gillespie raised about $760,000 for the primary and spent most of it. Airola paved a campaign trail with about $1.7 million of his own money and, observers say, bought enough early name recognition to drown out bad press and Young's Aug. 8 attack press conference, which was a scathing reiteration of Airola's thin police credentials and numerous lawsuits.
Voters were wooed with Airola's heavy advertising, and political consultants say the same sort of spending could buy Airola the race.
As a result, observers predict Gillespie will find his pockets lined anew with donations from people who want to see Airola beat at his own bankroll. That's the casinos and anybody else interested in Strip safety - big money enough to outspend a millionaire like Airola.
Although the support of other Metro candidates who lost Tuesday may float to Gillespie, including Laurie Bisch, the race could also wind up as a referendum on Metro. Given rising crime, that could spell bad news for Gillespie.
TASC
The most influential decision voters will make in November may not be for a person, but for an idea. The Tax and Spending Control initiative, which will have to pass this year and in 2008 to become a constitutional amendment, would cap state spending at population growth plus inflation. Its proponents say it would cap what they believe to be runaway state spending. Opponents say it would bring growth to a halt and tie the state's financial hands on important issues, including education, health care and road building.
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