TV station owner ends Twitter rampage on Horsford

By David McGrath Schwartz

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012 | 4:54 p.m.

Jim Rogers, the mercurial television station owner and former head of the Nevada System of Higher Education, has changed horses in the Congressional District 4 race.

Once a blistering critic of Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, he now said in an interview he is supporting him over Republican Danny Tarkanian.

“Of the two, he’s the better candidate,” he said. “I still have problems with Steven. But, you know, those are more irritating than substantive.”

He sent a letter to Horsford on Thursday saying he would not support Tarkanian because “my enthusiasm for his candidacy has waned” as he learned about Tarkanian’s “understanding of the critical issues facing Nevada.”

Rogers also said Horsford committed to bringing a “full service medical school” to Southern Nevada.

“I am also pleased by your written commitment to me to bring expanded health and medical services through a new complex to be built in Southern Nevada which will be anchored by a full-service medical school,” Rogers said.

Earlier this year, Rogers went on a Twitter rampage against Horsford, calling him a “poster boy for arrogance,” a “con man,” “a fraud and an empty suit,” and a “terrible person.” That ire seemed to be sparked when Horsford apparently didn’t live up to a promise to place a telephone call Rogers.

Tarkanian brought up Rogers’ support for him in a debate with Horsford on “Ralston Reports.”

Defending himself against a Horsford ad that painted him as a Tea Party extremist, Tarkanian, said: “If I were really an extremist, do you think Jim Rogers, arguably the most important or credible independent in the state of Nevada, would support me?”

After his tweets reached a fever pitch, Rogers said he met with Horsford and Democratic kingmaker Billy Vassiliadis.

Rogers, in an interview with the Sun, said of Horsford: “I don’t think he’s the perfection of mankind. Most of those complaints are more in form than substance.

“I don’t appreciate those who don’t call me back.”