Editorial: Jim Gibson for governor in Democratic primary

Sunday, July 30, 2006 | 8:15 a.m.

The Republican and Democratic primaries are fast approaching - Election Day is Aug. 15 and early voting began Saturday. It has not been the Sun's practice to endorse in primaries, but we believe this year the stakes are so high in the race for governor that we must make our thoughts known on the candidates running for Nevada's most important office.

Why is the governor's office so important this year? The phenomenal prosperity of Las Vegas and Nevada, and the amazing and continuing population growth prosperity has brought with it, are both a blessing and a challenge to the residents of this state. To keep ahead in providing the necessary services that an exploding population demands - education, health care, the environment and infrastructure such as roads, among many others - will require far-sighted and progressive leadership from our state's new governor. Without that leadership, and without those services, our prosperity could easily be endangered.

Both the Republican and Democratic party primaries feature multiple candidates for governor this year. On the Republican side, the two leading candidates, U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons and state Sen. Bob Beers, have staked out single-issue careers as tiny-government, anti-tax public officials. No one wants more government or taxes than necessary, but if Nevada's growth is to be sustained the state needs more public services, appropriately supported financially, than these two candidates have ever shown themselves willing to support. Our state needs responsible leadership, not irresponsible rhetoric.

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, also a candidate in the Republican primary, has been an able lieutenant governor for the last eight years and a moderating voice in the Republican party, but it is unclear whether she has the necessary support from her own party to lead the state for the next four years.

The Sun will not promote an ideology that would be detrimental to our state's future, as offered by the two leading Republican candidates, and thus makes no endorsement in the Republican primary.

On the Democratic side there has been an increasingly spirited campaign between state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson.

In her years in the Nevada Senate, Titus has been a champion of seeing that Las Vegas began to get its fair share of state funding, which for too long went disproportionately to the northern part of the state. She has fought hard to get her and her party's point of view heard in a Senate tightly controlled by Republican Majority Leader Bill Raggio. And she has worked to preserve Nevada's environment and rich natural resources.

Gibson is the only major candidate for governor of either party who holds an executive, rather than a legislative, office, which gives him experience that would be invaluable as governor, the chief executive of the state. Gibson has been the mayor of Henderson for 10 years, a period when this former dot on the map grew so fast it passed Reno as the second largest city in Nevada.

Under Gibson's leadership, Henderson has been a city that provides its residents an excellent quality of life, with fine parks and schools and streets, as evidenced by the real estate values there. It is no surprise that Money Magazine recently listed Henderson as one of the 20 best U.S. cities to live in based on a wide variety of quality-of-life categories. Henderson's success is due in no small part to Jim Gibson's vision, determination and hard work in keeping his city government in front of growth, anticipating and dealing with issues before they became problems - exactly what the governor needs to do for the state of Nevada.

Either Titus or Gibson would be far preferable to the leading Republican candidates. But in the Democratic primary, we believe Jim Gibson, with his track record of reasonable, thoughtful and progressive leadership of the city of Henderson, is the better choice, and the Sun endorses his candidacy.