GOP leader from Reno wielded power in state Senate for more than 30 years

By Anjeanette Damon

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Sen. Bill Raggio announced Wednesday he will end his nearly 40-year reign in the Nevada Legislature, ending a career in which he built an unrivaled legacy of power forged through patience, intimidation, charm and an understanding of what would make adversaries and supporters bend.

During his 38 years in the Legislature, Raggio fought to improve Nevada’s higher education system, strengthen the social safety net for the mentally ill and disabled and protect Northern Nevada from the encroaching hegemony of the South. He did so not as an activist, but as a reigning member of Nevada’s political elite who also looked after the interests of the state’s most powerful industries.

As he ends the longest tenure of any Nevada senator this month, Raggio is remembered as a man who won nearly every battle he took on.

“He could reward, and he could punish,” Nevada historian Guy Rocha said. “He knew where the bodies were buried, and he could call in his favors. He could bend arms, and he could smile.”

Raggio’s influence waned in his final sessions as the Republican Party he led for so long fractured.

Yet he remained a legislative force. As a result, many were surprised when he announced his resignation in a brief statement Wednesday.

“It’s hard to picture a Nevada Legislature without Bill Raggio,” said former Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. “With so much at stake this year that he would leave now is shocking. But his health has been an issue, and we know how hard he’s worked for so long. At some point it’s not that surprising that it would have to end.”

Raggio built his influence by honing a master negotiator’s skill. He meticulously cataloged what his adversaries needed most out of a legislative session to keep an upper hand in negotiations. He played his cards close to the vest, never revealing exactly what he was after until it was too late.

“I remember when I was trying to get money for a homeless shelter, and Raggio would never make a commitment,” Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said. “(A reporter) called and said ‘Congratulations, you got it.’ But I hadn’t heard from the senator yet.

“I hauled it to Carson City. It was eating me alive, and he still wouldn’t tell me what he was doing.”

Raggio also knew how to neutralize opponents.

In 2005, for example, after a short-lived effort sprouted to oust him as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in retaliation for his support of the 2003 tax increase, Raggio appointed hard-line fiscal conservative Sen. Bob Beers to the powerful committee to appease his detractors.

His duels with the conservative wing of the party would, years later, cost him his post as Senate majority leader.

Raggio employed charm and intimidation, throwing calculated fits of temper to drive home a point or turning on the eloquence to deliver a closing argument to a contentious debate.

One lawmaker described a heated argument in a so-called core group meeting of legislative leaders. “He stood up and stormed out and slammed the door, I mean just slammed it,” she said. “That’s very unusual behavior. You get mad, but you’re expected to hold it together. We all just looked at each other and someone said, ‘Don’t worry he’ll be back.’

“Sure enough, he came back a half-hour later and apologized.”

Raggio also made an art out of showing patience, allowing other legislative leaders to bicker until the closing hours of the session when they had no option but to follow the plan he had quietly built.

A superb memory and an encyclopedic knowledge of the budget, state agencies and the personalities of other lawmakers added to his influence.

“He always understood how the institution worked,” said Mike Hillerby, former chief of staff to Gov. Kenny Guinn. “He knew the rules and he always kept tabs on what people were doing.”

Although Raggio always starred in the closing budget negotiations, he also staked out a position as a bulwark for the North against the growing political clout of Southern Nevada. He fought to divert higher education funding to UNR and road funds to Northern Nevada projects.

It’s difficult to travel a significant distance through Northern Nevada without running across something honoring the senator. A bronze bust of Raggio greets travelers departing the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which he wrested out of city control, placing it under a regional governing board in the 1970s. His name graces one of the education buildings at UNR, honoring his efforts to secure funding both for education and for his hometown university.

After losing his position as majority leader in 2008, when the GOP lost the state Senate to the Democrats, Raggio still returned to drive the budget debate during the 2009 Legislature, molding a tax increase to his specifications.

He was ousted as leader of the Senate Republicans after November’s election, losing the title he had held almost continuously since 1977 over his support for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s re-election bid.

As a testament to his skill Raggio, despite his lower profile, had been expected to carve a powerful negotiating position as a swing vote on the budget when the Legislature convened in February.

With his physical condition addled by back and Achilles tendon injuries at the end of the 2009 session, Raggio began to seriously consider retirement.

In an interview, Raggio said his loss of the leadership position did not play into his decision to retire. “Not one bit,” he said.

Still, he acknowledged he leaves at a difficult time for the state, a fact that weighs on him as he considers his future outside the Legislature.

“Yes it does,” he said. “But they’ve got new people. They are competent and hopefully they will realize the importance of putting sectionalism and partisanship aside.

“And, look, nobody is irreplaceable.”