Republicans fear effect on down-ballot races if accuser establishes credibility

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006 | 7:56 a.m.

As soon as the press conference ended, Republican phones began ringing.

Chrissy Mazzeo, until now belittled by partisans as a drunken woman who had made an outlandish accusation against an Air Force veteran running for governor, appeared vulnerable, reluctant, victimized.

The Gibbons campaign and police, as portrayed by Mazzeo's attorney Richard Wright, came off as manipulative and bullying.

"This is bad. She came across as credible," said Chuck Muth, Republican consultant and blogger. Muth said he doesn't believe Rep. Jim Gibbons, the Reno Republican, did anything wrong, but he's afraid many undecided voters will be turned off by Gibbons. Some who had planned to vote for Gibbons will now switch their vote to Democrat Dina Titus, he said.

One prominent Republican said he wanted no part of the story, but he did mention a burning ship.

Muth and other Republicans also fear Gibbons may now be a pestilence on the rest of the Republican ticket, an unwelcome addition to the party's national woes.

Gibbons was the main object of concern, however.

Dan Burdish, a Republican consultant, said Gibbons must now answer questions about what happened Oct. 13, when Mazzeo told police Gibbons assaulted her after drinks in the bar of the McCormick & Schmick's: "He has to. He's conceding the race if he doesn't."

A significant problem for Gibbons is the contrast between him and Mazzeo, who, unlike Gibbons, took some questions from the media, although Wright wouldn't let her talk about specifics of the incident.

"As long as those 911 tapes are the ranting of a drunken person, she had no credibility," Muth said. "But now you relisten to those tapes, and now she's a scared woman."

The effect was intensified at the press conference, where Mazzeo was tentative and at times teary. What she has wanted this whole time, Wright said, was her privacy, which he said had been robbed by a police department more interested in protecting Gibbons than in safeguarding the alleged victim. Sexual assault victims' names are not usually revealed.

Wright said he has asked Metro for photos that will show scratches or bruises that are evidence of the assault, but has been "stonewalled." He said Mazzeo will submit to a polygraph test.

Don Campbell, Gibbons' lawyer, held a later press conference, at which he gave another blanket denial on behalf of Gibbons and said the assertion that the campaign had tried to threaten or bribe Mazzeo was false.

David Damore, a registered Democrat and a UNLV political scientist, said he didn't think it would counter the damage done earlier: "Defensive and bullying are the words I would use" to describe the Campbell news conference.

Campbell and a private detective, David Groover, said there were lots of disparaging facts to know about Mazzeo, but declined to elaborate, calling her "an exceedingly troubled young lady."

That judgment was based on a "superficial examination" of her past, Campbell said.

Campbell said he found it absurd that a woman who claimed to have been assaulted would hide in a Starbucks restroom.

They released a report prepared by Groover, which reported Titus had tried to reach an attorney friend of Mazzeo's.

Hilarie Grey, a spokeswoman for Titus, said that was not true.

Any solid evidence that Titus has tried to manipulate the situation would be a nugget of hope to Republicans, who could then claim dirty tricks, Damore said.

For now, Muth, Burdish and other Republicans are worried the fallout from Gibbons will infect other Republicans.

"Absolutely," Muth said. In down-ballot races, he said, many people don't know the candidates and can be swayed by their impressions of the top of the ticket - Gibbons.

"I think this hurts everybody," said Burdish, who's running Danny Tarkanian's campaign for secretary of state.

The Gibbons problem is compounded by Republican woes nationally, which include scandals in Washington and the war in Iraq.

Nevada Republicans are already beset with a number of troubled candidates: Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald is running for re-election despite claims that she doesn't live in her district and that she engaged in an unethical land deal.

Rep. Jon Porter has been accused by a former staff member of making illegal campaign fundraising calls from his government office.

Mark DeStefano, running for state treasurer, has a personal bankruptcy and was thrown off the ballot with his own residency issue in a separate race in 2004.

Ryan Erwin, another Republican consultant, who's working for lieutenant governor candidate Brian Krolicki and DeStefano, said he's not concerned. He said his clients are holding their own in internal polls.