Gibbons fires campaign manager over first lady remarks

By David McGrath Schwartz

Published Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 | 3:45 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 | 4:06 p.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons fired his campaign manager Wednesday for comments he made calling the first lady position "window dressing."

Robert Olmer, a former ski resort marketing executive, was in his first campaign position and was an unknown in Nevada’s political circles.

After Monday’s divorce hearing, when Jim and Dawn Gibbons reached a settlement, Olmer told the Reno Gazette-Journal, "Essentially, any first lady is to a large extent window dressing, just showing up for public events."

Gibbons’ state spokesman, Dan Burns, called the newspaper to say the governor disagreed with the comment.

In a statement released today, Gibbons said, "Mr. Olmer’s recent remarks about the position of First Lady in Nevada were beyond inappropriate and were demeaning, sexist, and do not, in any way, reflect my feelings."

In an interview, Olmer said he was "disappointed" the governor fired him.

"From the governor's point of view, I certainly understand what he did and why he did it," Olmer said.

By comparing the first lady's position to "window dressing," he said he meant "the position didn't really affect policy."

He said he didn't use the term pejoratively.

"I believe the way I was saying it was not meant in any negative fashion," Olmer said. "It was simply in the context of the first lady, or the first husband or man, doesn't have involvement with any legislation in the state." He added that it was "not sexist in any way."

Asked to reflect on his first job in politics, Olmer said, "It's much more about the perception versus reality. To a large extent, the media creates a perception that doesn't fit the reality of the situation. But the media has a strong influence over the perception. To a large extent, Gov. Gibbons has been treated unfairly by the media."

Gibbons has had approval ratings below 20 percent for months, and during the last legislative session he dumped the last professional political advisers on his campaign payroll, Jim and Dani Denton, to rely on the political advice of Olmer and other advisors with minimal experience. He paid Olmer $60,000 over the last six months of 2008, according to the latest campaign records available.

While Gibbons this past summer said he intended to have $3 million raised by the end of the year, Olmer recently said Gibbons would have nowhere near that amount of money.

No successor has been named. Gibbons faces a formidable primary against former federal district court Judge Brian Sandoval and former North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon. Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid is the only Democrat who has announced for governor.