Moderate image could haunt Sandoval

By David McGrath Schwartz

Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Make no mistake: Democrats fear Brian Sandoval’s entrance into the race for governor.

But before he can face a Democrat, the now former federal judge with an impressive resume must survive a Republican primary — and a base of fired-up conservative voters who aren’t likely to cotton to his talk of consensus building and reaching across the aisle.

Sandoval resigned his lifetime appointment to the federal bench, effective Tuesday, and has officially announced he’s running for governor. Despite having no money in the bank and being out of the public eye since he was appointed to the bench in 2005, polls show Sandoval leading the three other candidates in the Republican field — Gov. Jim Gibbons, former North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon and former state Sen. Joe Heck.

As he reintroduces himself to Nevada voters in a series of interviews this week, Sandoval is trying, with a lot of talk against taxes, to shake the impression in political circles that he’s a moderate.

“Raising taxes during economic times like this is not an option,” Sandoval said in an interview with the Sun on Wednesday. Sandoval added that he likely would have vetoed the Legislature’s tax and spending bills passed last session, as Gibbons did.

But he also said he will refuse to sign a pledge not to raise taxes, which some conservatives are putting forward as a litmus test for Republican candidates.

“Brian Sandoval absolutely has an issue with conservatives,” said conservative activist Chuck Muth, who is behind the no-tax pledge. “He has to make a case. Conservatives are not going to automatically jump behind him.”

(Of the other three candidates, only Gibbons has signed the taxpayer protection pledge, though Muth has said on more than one occasion that the governor has violated it. Heck announced Wednesday that he will sign the pledge this morning.)

“Actions speak louder than words,” Sandoval said. “My record shows that I am very conservative on taxes. Once I meet with individuals, they’ll become aware of that.”

Sandoval said that when he served in the Legislature in the 1990s, he voted once to allow the Washoe County Commission to raise the sales tax. He also said he voted to raise the property tax in Clark County to build new schools.

Sandoval said he would have signed the bill giving same-sex domestic partners many of the same rights as heterosexual married couples — a measure that drew strong Republican opposition during the legislative session.

Those issues could raise red flags among the party’s more conservative elements, which are asserting themselves. With protests against President Barack Obama’s health care reform proposals and a series of demonstrations against taxes, this wing of the party has become the most visible face of the GOP both nationally and in Nevada.

Sandoval would not take any direct shots at Gibbons or the other candidates. He said he thought the governor “did what he felt was right” during the session.

“I bring something different to the table,” he said. “I try to build consensus, bring people together to solve the problems. There are extremes on both sides, and Nevada needs a governor to bring people together.”

When asked about the perception that he’s moderate, he said: “I think I’m fiscally conservative and I have a record to back that up. If moderate means I work with both sides of the aisle, I guess I am.”

Republican political consultant Robert Uithoven, who helped elect Gibbons but is not currently affiliated with a gubernatorial campaign, said Sandoval has work to do selling himself to conservative Republicans.

“ ‘Consensus’ is a general election word,” Uithoven said. “Republican primary voters want to hear about principles. He needs to define the principles that he holds before a difficult tax session in 2011.”

Indeed, the tax question is more than just academic. Legislators met with Gibbons on Wednesday, where they were told that the shortfall for the 2011 session is now projected to be at $2.4 billion to maintain state services.

Both Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, and Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the budget has been cut so that only “essential services” remain.

When asked whether he would oppose extending taxes scheduled to expire in two years, Sandoval said, “My first gut reaction is no, we don’t need more taxes. In this environment, when people are struggling like they are, tax increases aren’t an option.”