Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

MEMO FROM RENO:

Gibbons campaign regrets ‘repugnant’ slam on Sandoval

Gov. Jim Gibbons

Gov. Jim Gibbons

Brian Sandoval

Brian Sandoval

Identity politics took center stage in the governor’s race last week.

Just as the Hispanic furor began to die down over former federal Judge Brian Sandoval’s support for the Arizona immigration law, Gov. Jim Gibbons decided to throw Nazis into the mix.

In a recycled 2002 attack, Gibbons implied Sandoval is anti-Semitic because, at the prompting of a newspaper columnist, he said his job as attorney general would be to enforce all the state’s laws, even if one required Jews to wear the Star of David.

The Gibbons campaign apparently didn’t realize that the Jewish community doesn’t take kindly to equating the horror of the Holocaust to an out-of-context political attack.

Before the day was over, Gibbons was forced to apologize to the Jewish community for the attack that Sandoval termed “repugnant” and “beneath the dignity of the office of governor.”

“It is unfortunate that in trying to illustrate Sandoval’s lack of commitment to Nevadans, the Gibbons campaign may have appeared to indicate a lack of respect for the Holocaust, the Jewish faith, or the Jewish people,” Gibbons’ campaign said in a release. “This is absolutely not the case.”

For his part, Sandoval has largely tried to avoid identity politics, acknowledging the danger of being pigeonholed as the Hispanic candidate in the field. But he’s also stumbled many times while trying to walk that line between the pigeonhole and locking in an important voting bloc.

Not content to simply let the Republicans beat themselves up, Democrat Rory Reid went after Sandoval for his support of the Arizona immigration bill, fully embracing identity politics.“I think it says a lot about somebody to go after his own people in order to win an election,” he said. “I think it’s bad policy and says something about his character.”

Cleland campaigns for Reid Sr.

Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., made a campaign swing through Reno last week, talking up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s accomplishments for veterans and slamming one of his potential Republican opponents.

Harry Reid

Harry Reid

A Vietnam veteran who lost three of his limbs in the war, Cleland said he wanted to make sure “Nevadans understood exactly what you had in Harry” in light of his opponents saying “crazy, nutso things about him.”

Cleland touted Reid’s help in securing funding for a Veterans Affairs hospital in Las Vegas, and credited him with “slow and plodding but totally consistent” work for veterans.

He then went on the attack against “the lady,” Republican Sue Lowden, who sponsored a bill in the state Senate that would charge a fee for some veterans to be buried in the veterans cemetery.

“What in the world is anybody thinking?” he said.

Lowden’s campaign manager Robert Uithoven fired back: “They’re so desperate they’re recycling a defeated senator to bring up an attack that didn’t work last time.”

Lieutenant governor candidate gets Culinary nod

Reno Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza clinched a key endorsement in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor last week.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 said it is backing Sferrazza because she “looks out for the interests of working families.”

The nod could give northerner Sferrazza an edge in Clark County, the Culinary’s base of strength.

Sferrazza is running against Las Vegas businessman and one-time reality TV star Paul Murad and Sparks businessman Robert Randazzo.

Anjeanette Damon is the Reno Gazette-Journal’s political reporter and writes the “Inside Nevada Politics” blog, which appears at rgj.com/inp.

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