Editorial: A good man who had his say

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

Although we rarely agreed with Chic Hecht on public issues, we remember the former state senator and U.S. senator as a good man who energetically fought for his conservative ideals.

Hecht, whose defeat of four-term Sen. Howard Cannon, D-Nev., in 1982 is considered by many political experts to be the biggest Election Day upset in Nevada history, died Monday at age 77.

A successful businessman, Hecht broke into the public sphere in 1966 when he ran for the Nevada Senate and won. He was defeated in 1974, but that did not stop his conservative activism. He ran Ronald Reagan's presidential campaigns in Southern Nevada in 1976 and 1980.

Hecht ran for federal office in his own right in 1982, stunningly defeating World War II hero Cannon, who nearly everyone at the time thought was an absolute shoo-in. Hecht, who had served in military intelligence in the early 1950s, served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He also chaired the Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee and served on the Energy Committee.

He was defeated after one term by former Gov. Richard Bryan, who received 50 percent of the vote to Hecht's 46 percent. Hecht went on to serve as ambassador to the Bahamas and afterward resumed his business career in Las Vegas.

After he left office Hecht sat numerous times for interviews with the Las Vegas Sun, always ready to explain his view of current events. He often cited Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon as politicians whose views he most admired.

We enjoyed sparring with the affable Hecht, and we certainly pay our respects to this man who had a point of view and never hesitated to stand up and share it.