The surprising moves of current, would-be officeholders

By Jon Ralston

Friday, March 5, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Catching up with the Friday Flash of some of this week’s events:

• Mayor Brown? As the ever-modest Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman continues to talk as if the mayoralty must remain in his name, floating his wife, Carolyn, as his successor, I flushed out one other potential contender this week on “Face to Face.”

I had heard Larry Brown, a close ally of Goodman’s when he was on the City Council, was musing about coming back to the city after a brief stint on the Clark County Commission. People usually step up from the relatively powerless council to the potent commission. But considering the current, volatile commission makeup and his chance to be mayor, I wasn’t surprised when I heard Brown, ever ambitious, might want to be called “Your Honor.”

On the program this week, Brown, annoyingly saying he anticipated the question, tried an initial dodge by talking about how focused he is on the city’s budget problems. Undaunted, I pressed on and he acknowledged, “I have been approached.”

(Side note: We always hear that line about being approached, as if it would sound too egomaniacal to have thought of it yourself. Who are these people who always “approach” folks to run for office? Is it always the same people who “approach” these potential candidates? Or are there roving gangs of approachers?)

Brown said he will “think about it down the road,” and when I asked one last time if he were interested, he offered: “I could be.”

Meaning: He is.

Brown would be an interesting contender — well liked, broad support base, ability to raise money as commissioner. He would be viable against any of the councilmen who have thought about it. But the wild card is the same as it was during the last two open mayoral seats: A wealthy outsider who decides to spend a fortune to win the race.

The last two — Goodman and Jan Jones — were such types. Is there another one out there? I would guess so — someone like Larry Ruvo, the spirit man, or Don Snyder, the ex-gamer/banker, both deeply involved in downtown projects?

Looking forward to that contest in 2011.

• Is this all they have? I know it’s early (although the primary is only 95 days hence), but I was quite distressed (it happens every two years) by the performance Wednesday night of the four leading contenders to replace County Commissioner Rory Reid. I will not single out any of them — state Sen. David Parks, union stalwart Greg Esposito, ex-School Board Member Mary Beth Scow and Planning Commissioner Ron Newell. They were, as a group, awful.

Awful how? you wonder.

If you walked into the Painters Hall where the Henderson Democratic Club met, you would have thought you had stumbled into a Clichés, Evasions and Pabulum Convention. On questions about the rural water pipeline or home rule or UMC, we heard they need to studied, looked at carefully, certainly not committed to at this time.

At first, I wished I had stopped by Starbucks first. By the end, I was longing for Glenlivet.

I suppose it is a constant refrain from those of us who cover campaigns: When you get a chance to talk, say something. Even more frustrating is when they get away with it or rely on sound bites that don’t reveal anything about what they might do in the elected post or reveal promises they can’t keep (Bush 41 in ’88 and Gibbons the Only One in ’06).

I suppose I should be optimistic that it will get better from here, both in that race and up the ticket. But for some reason, Pollyanna has left the building.

• Brave new legislative world: Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert’s stunning announcement she will not seek re-election is interesting — she said she wanted a break from elected life and who can blame her? — but not nearly so provocative as two trends it underscores.

One, it reinforces the split within the state GOP. Gansert is seen as a moderate, but only because she has been willing to make deals to close sessions. She may not always have been the strongest leader, but she often invoked conservative principles. And that compromising to get legislation through is seen as a crime inside the Tea Partying GOP — it shows what we are in for during Campaign ’10.

Second, while there is always significant turnover in the Legislature from session to session, the changes come 2011 could be unprecedented. Because of term limits, retirements and electoral defeats, you may have half of each chamber populated by rookies.

Luckily, there are no huge or complicated issues on the docket for the 2011 Legislature.

Jon Ralston’s column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.