Titus, Gibson race a sign of the times

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.

The temperature is 112 degrees on a Saturday, and Randy Soltero is driving around North Las Vegas, pulling over every few hundred yards, where a sign that once advertised Dina Titus for governor has been slashed and felled. Soltero, a Titus volunteer, says he's collected 400 of them in the past 10 days alone.

The campaign of Titus's Democratic primary opponent, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, said they've had 180 of their own signs stolen or vandalized statewide since the campaign started.

The warring campaigns deny they've had anything to do with the theft and vandalism. Still, the acts demonstrate how nasty the campaign has become, with both candidates running negative ads and launching new attacks in the media. Hotline, a nonpartisan Washington D.C.-based political newsletter, headlined a short item about the race last week, "The Ugliest Primary No One Is Watching."

Even if the public isn't paying much attention, some Democrats are concerned about whether the party can unify after the Aug. 15 primary to take on the Republican nominee in November.

Mike Sloan, a longtime Democratic operative in Nevada, said, "I think there's concern they'll so dissipate their finances they'll be in trouble in the fall."

Titus, the state Senate minority leader, recently began airing TV ads that say Gibson "was paid more than half a million dollars by Nevada Power to keep utility rates high." The ad is referring to a $527,000 payment to Gibson's law firm for legal advice as the power company tried to ward off a failed takeover attempt by the water utility.

Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan Web site that checks ads for truthfulness, noted that the utility company didn't pay Gibson himself, but his firm, and that Gibson had nothing to do with determining utility rates.

Gibson is airing an ad blaming Titus for the state's education failings, a claim FactCheck.org said "defies common sense." Titus is just one state legislator, and she's in the minority party, after all.

Titus has said Gibson set up a "pay-to-play" system in which developers have received favorable treatment in Henderson after giving big campaign contributions.

Gibson calls that "bunk" and has made accusations of his own about money Titus took from liquor distributors and trial lawyers.

Even though both campaigns say they will support the eventual winner in the fall, the obvious contempt they hold for each other raises questions about what they'll be willing to deliver after the primary.

Tom Collins, Nevada Democratic Party chairman, said he's not worried: "It's not ugly because they're not picking on things that matter." In other words, because the disagreements aren't substantive, reconciling should be no problem, he said, although it's unclear why it's easier to forgive a personal attack than a policy difference.

Regardless, Collins said he's spoken to both campaigns about elevating the tone.

At least one undecided voter agreed with Collins and hopes for a better campaign.

The Rev. Mary Bredlau, chaplain at Palm Mortuary and a priest at Christ Church Episcopal in Las Vegas, said she'd like the discussion to focus more on issues: "I'd really like to see that, especially when you're looking at a leadership position - and the governor is certainly that. It makes me say in my own heart, 'What is really going on here? Do they want the position so badly that they'll do anything to get it?' "

Although both candidates have substantive - and similar - proposals for increasing teacher salaries, expanding health insurance coverage and moving Nevada toward renewable energy, they have to spend much of their time and money attacking and responding to attacks, which are usually effective in any campaign.

It's also entirely possible no one is paying attention.

Bredlau said among people she talks to in the community, few are discussing the August primary.

Sloan agreed. "What I hear is, does anybody care what happens on Aug. 15?"

David Damore, a UNLV political scientist, said the first-time August primary, in a year without a presidential election, has probably dragged down interest.

As for the negative campaigning, he said there's conflicting information as to what effect it has on voter turnout.

The real winner, Damore said, is Republican front-runner Rep. Jim Gibbons: "The Democrat is going to come out of this with no money plus all that negative information out there."