Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.
The first woman to hold statewide office in Nevada was a maverick educator-turned-legislator who was appointed to the position in 1962 - an 81-year-old who served out the term as lieutenant governor.
Maude Frazier would probably be thrilled to see what has happened in the decades since.
The top of the Democratic ticket features six women candidates in the fall election.
The women are running for governor and for two of the other four statewide offices. Women also are running for all three U.S. House seats. Together, the six candidates offer Nevada voters an unprecedented choice: send Democratic women - or Republican men - to Carson City and Washington.
The Democrats are Dina Titus for governor; House candidates Rep. Shelley Berkley, Jill Derby and Tessa Hafen; Catherine Cortez Masto for attorney general and Kate Marshall for state treasurer.
Already the congressional candidates are bonding together as the "three amigas."
Whether the female lineup will translate into victories in November is a decidedly open question. In many races, the Democrats face uphill battles. Many have less money to spend or face an electorate more Republican than not, or both.
An optimistic reading of their prospects comes from Debbie Walsh, director the Rutgers University Center for American Women in Politics. Walsh said Democratic women have a good shot at peeling voters away from Republican men in 2006 because of the sour national mood over the status quo.
Walsh noted that women voters historically turn out in greater numbers for Democrats than Republicans - about 7 percent higher in presidential elections - because women feel more vulnerable on health care, wages and other economic issues, and want their government to help or protect them.
"You've got all of these women running on the Democratic side, there is the potential for that to turn into something that could excite that woman's vote," she said.
"People are disgusted with government One of the things women have going for them is they don't look like politics as usual."
It's precisely that point of view that attracts Sydney Bohac, a Republican. Bohac is a grandmother of six. In an interview at the Henderson Wal-Mart last week, she said she voted for Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt in her failed bid to win the Republican gubernatorial primary Aug. 15.
Now, Bohac said she just might be willing to cross party lines to put Titus in office. The Democrat's gender "is a plus for me," Bohac said.
Susan Williamson, a Democrat also interviewed at the Wal-Mart, said the robust roster of women might persuade her out to cast a ballot for the first time in years. Maybe, she said, the women can "straighten things out."
On the other hand, veteran Nevada campaign consultants doubt that the presence of a female Democratic ticket will give the party a bounce on Nov. 7.
Nevadans tend to vote for candidates - not causes - and are unlikely to vote up and down the ticket just for women. Democrat and Republican consultants alike don't believe much in coattails. They note that in 1994, when the nationwide Republican revolution swept the party to power in the House and gave Nevada challenger John Ensign a victory over a Democratic incumbent, Silver State voters elected Democrat Bob Miller governor.
"Voters see these people as people," said longtime Democratic consultant Gary Gray, who is running Marshall's campaign for treasurer. Voters want candidates whose opinions and values they share.
Titus calls it simple serendipity that so many women are joining her on the ballot. She says it stems from women having been elected to the state Legislature in large numbers in recent years. Nevada has a greater percentage of women legislators than most states. Now they're making their moves for higher office, Titus said.
Her opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, has no plans to specifically target women voters, believing many already support him, his campaign said. But Republican consultant Pete Ernaut said any candidate who underestimates the power of the women's vote in Nevada does so "at their peril."
Ernaut recalls the 1998 race for governor between his former boss, Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, and Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, a Democrat. As Election Day neared Guinn's team realized that beating up Jones on the campaign trail wasn't playing well with women. The campaign switched gears.
"I've got to tell you there was a lot of hand wringing in October '98," Ernaut said. "There was not a piece of mail that went out or ad that was cut that wasn't replete with promos of Reno businesswomen or community-oriented leaders supporting Guinn."
He added, "Anyone who says gender doesn't play a role is terribly naive about the history of Nevada."
That was Nevada's previous year of the woman. The Democratic ticket had female candidates up and down the ballot - Jones for governor, Berkley for Congress, Frankie Sue Del Papa for attorney general. In total, federal and statewide races featured five Democratic women.
Some say Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who won re-election that year by just 428 votes after challenge from Ensign, did so with the help of what some called "Harry's Harem," Democratic women candidates who brought out voters for the incumbent.
Electing women to top posts here and there is not new in Nevada - on either side of the political divide. Republican Barbara Vucanovich represented the northern congressional seat for more than a decade until Gibbons took over in 1996. Vucanovich's daughter, Patty Cafferata, won statewide office for treasurer in 1982.
The difference this year is the sheer numbers - and the amount of experience they have in elected office or working as public servants.
"What you're seeing this year collectively is a depth of experience that we've never seen on any ticket," Berkley said.
Berkley is finishing her fourth term in the House. Titus is minority leader of the state Senate. House challenger Derby has been a university regent since 1988.
Attorney general candidate Cortez Masto has been a federal prosecutor, chief of staff to Miller, and is a former assistant Clark County manager. Marshall is running for state treasurer on a resume that includes serving in the anti-trust division of the Justice Department and leading posts in the state attorney general's office.
Hafen, 30, has served as press secretary to Reid for eight years.
The Republican side also sports extensive experience, with exceptions. Gibbons is completing his fifth term in the U.S. House. He served in the state Assembly after a distinguished career as an Air Force pilot.
Berkley's opponent is Republican Kenneth Wegner, a businessman and Army veteran who served in the first Gulf War.
Hafen's opponent, Rep. Jon Porter, is completing his second term in the House and 23rd year in public life that includes Boulder City Council, mayor and Nevada Senate.
Derby's opponent is current Secretary of State Dean Heller, who is wrapping up his third term in the office. He also served four years in the Nevada Legislature.
For state treasurer, Marshall faces Mark DeStefano, a businessman.
Cortez Masto is running against Don Chairez, a former Clark County prosecutor and District Court judge who resigned from the bench to run, and narrowly lose, his race for the House against Berkley in 1998.
As for the amigas, the relationship runs deep. Derby and Titus were bridesmaids at Berkley's 1999 wedding.
"All of us have been doing this for a long time," Berkley said.
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