Assembly minority leader Heidi Gansert won’t seek re-election

By David McGrath Schwartz

Published Thursday, March 4, 2010 | 10:22 a.m.

Updated Thursday, March 4, 2010 | 11:45 a.m.

Republican Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, will not seek reelection, saying she “needs a break from elected office.”

Gansert, a rising Republican star, said she had decided not to run before the special session to balance the state’s budget, but waited until after the agreement was reached to make the announcement, hoping not to cause a distraction.

Gansert was part of the negotiations to close the budget deficit, along with Senate Republicans, Democrats in the Assembly and Senate, and Gov. Jim Gibbons. Though she voted for it, along with five other Republican Assembly members, a majority of her caucus did not vote for it. The package received unanimous support from Senate Republicans.

Gansert was dealing with the most unruly legislative caucus, with many members displaying an anti-tax, hardline conservative streak. There had been speculation – as there often is when it comes to leadership posts – that Gansert could face a coup from the more conservative wing of the party.

Assemblyman John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas, openly talked of seeking a leadership position for the 2011 session, telling the Reno Gazette-Journal that Gansert was too open to compromise with the majority. (Democrats have a two-thirds majority in the Assembly, and have a two-member edge in the Senate.)

“I would like to see the caucus come back to the core principles of the Republican Party,” Hambrick said. “Some feel the need to compromise to get things accomplished and I beg to differ.”

Gansert dismissed the idea that the chatter caused her to not seek a fourth term.

“There’s always talk from others interested in leadership,” Gansert said. “I was pleased with the caucus, and how united they were. We’ve never been closer.”

She did take an oblique shot at critics on the right who have criticized her for working with the Democratic majority.

“For the Republican party to win, we need to have a bigger tent,” she said. “There are various levels of conservatives we need to embrace, various levels of opinion.”

Gansert dropping out will be another loss in experience in the Legislature, where, for the first time, term limits will begin booting some of the longest serving members. Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, will not be returning in 2011, as well as Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno. Raggio told Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston that he intends to return, but insiders believe that if Democrats take a super-majority in the Senate or hard-line conservatives win in Republican primary victories, Raggio may end his Legislative career.