To govern, Gibbons must acquire new skills, survive investigations

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

Governor-elect Jim Gibbons showed tremendous endurance as he withstood a barrage of negative publicity at the close of his campaign against state Sen. Dina Titus.

Now, though, he'll have to learn a new set of political skills after a career as a member of the majority in Congress.

To begin with, his narrow victory comes in the face of Democratic victories in at least three and maybe four constitutional offices, wins that embolden Democratic opposition. The last time Democrats held three constitutional offices was 1986.

Gibbons will enter the Governor's Mansion facing a large Democratic majority in the Assembly and a divided state Senate, although Republicans seemed to have a slight majority late Tuesday. The Democratic clout means that Gibbons will have to create disparate coalitions and cut deals with moderates and liberals alike, while not alienating his conservative base.

"I don't see where he has nearly as much political capital as he'd like to have, so he'll have to tread carefully," said Steve Wark, a Republican consultant and former state party chairman. "He'll have to govern gingerly."

In the election, Gibbons managed to build a wall against both the national Democratic tide, which delivered control of the U.S. House and possibly the U.S. Senate to Democrats, and a flood of allegations that hit his campaign in the closing weeks, including cronyism, hiring an illegal immigrant and allegations that he assaulted a woman last month.

Dan Burdish, former executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, said Gibbons' victory creates a strong governing position: "With everything he's gone through in the last four weeks, for him to survive and still be elected, I believe that he can govern from there."

Still, Chuck Muth, a conservative consultant and blogger, said Gibbons faces a challenging environment: "It's going to be real tough." Although Gibbons will view his victory as a triumph, "The reality of the political landscape has changed," he said.

Muth said the state Republican Party is "in shambles."

Gibbons will have to go out and get Assembly candidates elected in 2008 so he's not always at the mercy of the presumed next speaker of the Assembly, Democrat Barbara Buckley, who's seen as tough and savvy.

"He needs to put some weight of the governor's office into the political operation, or it's going to be a miserable four years," Muth said.

Gibbons, who offered little in the way of specifics during the campaign, also faces big policy challenges. The state's education, health care, transportation and water and energy systems all need work to deal with the state's rapid growth.

Nor can Gibbons expect much help from Washington, D.C., where Congress is now in Democratic hands. Republicans Rep. Jon Porter, who won his congressional race, and Dean Heller, who had a narrow but comfortable lead in his congressional race late Tuesday, will likely be without much power or influence as members of the minority party in the House. Gibbons will have to work with Sen. Harry Reid, the Democrat who could be the Senate majority leader.

Every step of the way, Gibbons can expect a newly confident, energized and organized Democratic Party to oppose him .

Dan Hart, a Democratic consultant, who was speaking before he knew Titus was likely to lose, said no matter what happened Tuesday: "The Democratic Party in Nevada is back and back with strength, significant strength."