What's going on with the Nevada Governor's race?

[bluestateguy]

So Kenny Boy Guinn is term limited out and the office is open now. Who are the candidates? Any numbers out?

[Awsi Dooger]

1. We have a very heated Democratic primary and the GOP is favored

Not overwhelming, maybe 2/1 favorite or slightly more. Jim Gibbons is the GOP frontunner, a congressman from northern Nevada who has all but hid from the media for months after many gaffes last year. He'll have a huge monetary edge over our nominee, Dina Titus or Jim Gibson. Yes, two names almost identical. Could be a running joke for months if Gibson wins the August primary. He's the mayor of Henderson and more conservative than Titus. She was favored for our nomination but now it's close to a tossup, some polls putting Gibson ahead.

Gibbons (GOP) leads the statewide polls by roughly 5-7 points regardless of who we nominate.

[medeak]

2. Gibson and Titus ruckmaking each other....slimy

the sad part is that Perkins...a really good guy was tossed out as Titus ran slimy ads against him and I hear Reid didn't support him.

too bad..

[top_mosker]

5. perkins? ha!

perkins (and im assuming your talking about Richard Perkins) is hardly a good guy. He has consistently shown his ability to abuse his power as both state legislator and law enforcement officer - a position no elicted official should be allowed to retain...

[newyawker99]

6. Hi top_mosker!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NobleCynic]

7. You're kidding right

I worked in the LCB. I watched, in person, Perkins get his ass handed to him by Raggio on every issue. He has never been anything more than a big dumb cop. You know the reason he dropped out of the race? It wasn't because Titus ran slimy ads against him. It was because he couldn't get any money. He angered special interests so badly, and not through principled stands mind you, but through shear incompetence, that Titus knocked him out of the race. Considering that Titus is a far left liberal by Nevada standards, that gives you an idea of how poorly Perkins handled himself in session.

Perkins ran run a good campaign. He just can't govern. To such a degree that he couldn't get the money to run against Titus.

[medeak]

10. Is there anyone worth voting for?

am totally disallusioned:

Aug. 28, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Candidate finds Republican's money acceptable

After attacking Gibson for doing it, Titus accepts $30,000 from son of governor


By MOLLY BALL

REVIEW-JOURNAL

True-blue Democrat Dina Titus has changed her tune about the acceptability of donations from Republicans.

When the Republican governor's Republican son gave a sizable chunk of change to Titus' Democratic gubernatorial primary opponent, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, Titus decried the donation as further proof that Gibson wasn't a real Democrat. It was one of her most effective knocks on Gibson.

Now that Titus is the nominee, she's plenty willing to take businessman Jeffrey Guinn's money.

Titus' campaign said Friday it had received $30,000 in donations from various entities connected to Guinn, who owns a financial services company in Las Vegas. Guinn, the oldest son of Gov. Kenny Guinn, is a registered Republican.

Jeffrey Guinn funneled the same amount to Gibson in 2005. On the now-shuttered JimNoDem.com Web site, operated by the Titus campaign, the donation was listed as evidence, under the heading, "Republican Connections Continue."

Titus spokesman Hilarie Grey said Friday the message of Guinn's donation is different this time. "I would say that it's evidence that we have support from a wide variety of Nevadans, including across the aisle," she said.

Jeffrey Guinn said he was supporting Titus because he believed she is the best candidate. He said he believes Nevada's taxes need to be raised to meet the state's needs and Titus "is tough enough to do that."

"My father's done an absolutely great job," he said. "I want someone strong to follow him."

He said the governor was not involved in the donation. Kenny Guinn has yet to publicly endorse a successor.

more or less anti-yucca

When it comes to Yucca Mountain, it's not where Nevada candidates stand -- everyone is against the proposed nuclear waste repository -- but how adamant they can be. Last week, Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and his Democratic opponent, Tessa Hafen, strained to out-anti-Yucca each other in the wake of Porter's tour of the site.

Hafen fired at Porter with a statement accusing him of being all talk and no action.

"Energy companies and other staunch supporters of Yucca Mountain, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, have dumped thousands into Porter's campaign coffers, while pushing plans to dump toxic nuclear waste in our back yard," Hafen said. "And he wonders why the White House has been ignoring his subpoena for more than a year. Clearly President Bush has no intention of complying with his demands, and Jon Porter obviously has no intention of making his good friend actually follow the law."

Porter campaign chairman Mike Slanker fired back.

"That's a joke. She's a joke," Slanker said. "He's been fighting this since he was mayor of Boulder City."

Porter's subpoena of the Bush administration -- part of an investigation he started as chairman of the House Federal Workforce Subcommittee -- was far from ignored, Slanker said.

"His chairmanship has allowed him to uncover things no one else has. (The subpoena) uncovered millions of e-mails to support our point that it's not safe."

The investigation found that government scientists appeared to be faking some data used to support the contention that the site was safe.

losing votes and losing it

A losing Assembly candidate in Pahrump apparently didn't take the primary result very well.

Harley Kulkin, who lost the Aug. 15 primary for Assembly District 36 to Laurayne Murray, took his anger out on the local Democratic Party headquarters, according to the Pahrump Valley Times.

"In a fit of rage over his election loss, Kulkin accused the party of playing favorites and then trashed the place," the Times' Phillip Gomez reported.

Kulkin, who previously ran unsuccessfully for the Nye County Commission, reportedly kicked over a cabinet and scattered office equipment off a desk.

It's not the first time Kulkin has acted out, the Times said. In a 2003 meeting of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission, he threatened a state official and, when asked to leave, challenged a deputy to arrest him. The deputy complied.

Where is left of harry reid?

A Republican House leader sought to paint Democratic candidate Tessa Hafen as "left-leaning" in a talk with reporters last week.

Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York leads GOP re-election efforts as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He maintained Hafen's opposition to making tax cuts permanent and her support for an immigration bill that includes citizenship paths for illegal immigrants "won't get you elected in the West."

Hafen "has taken interesting positions even farther left than her old boss," Reynolds said in the conference call Thursday.

Hafen worked for eight years as a media adviser to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., before resigning to run for Congress.

When pressed for places where Hafen is to the left of Reid, Reynolds could not give any examples.

Later, NRCC press secretary Jonathan Collegio also demurred, saying Republicans "are not going to let that cat out of the bag in late August. The committee will be happy to discuss this closer to the election."

Hafen campaign media director David Cherry called the remarks a smear and a sign that Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., is growing nervous by having a surrogate try to brand the challenger.

"This is the last bastion they have," Cherry said. "They can't define what is the left of Harry Reid. They just want the words to be used."

candidate on big screen

Assembly District 39 candidate James Settelmeyer of Gardnerville has found a way to get his name in front of prospective voters who love the movies.

Settelmeyer, a Republican, runs political ads on local movie screens. Patrons munching on popcorn see photos of Settelmeyer and his wife, Sherese, standing by a horse carrying daughters Kaitlyn and Sabrina. Everyone is decked out in cowboy clothes.

Until his run for the Assembly, Settelmeyer probably was best-known as a member of the Carson Valley family that owns the cattle ranch frequented by dozens of bald eagles every winter.

Eagles eat the afterbirth left by mother cows when they have calves. Scores of drivers stop along Highway 395 to snap photos of the eagles.

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve

[Awsi Dooger]

3. Looks like Titus has regained the advantage in the primary

That's my sense and also revealed in recent polls. Her TV ads are good and Gibson was on the defensive regarding an abortion comment.

Still a big question who has the better chance to defeat Gibbons. Review Journal political columnist Erin Neff said she is voting for Gibson since she wants a Democrat to run the state and she thinks he is the only one who can defeat Gibbons, that Titus would get swamped in the rural areas while Gibson could hold his own. I tend to share her view. Early voting is underway and I'm still undecided about this primary vote.

[Awsi Dooger]

4. Looks like Jim Gibbons (R) expects to face Titus

He finally agreed to a primary debate last night and used the term "liberal Democrat Dina Titus" three or four times. Probably hundreds more to come if that's the matchup.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. We've become a much bigger underdog in this race

That's if you believe the betting odds on Tradesports. It went from 2/1 a month or two ago, then up to 3/1, and now approaching 10/1.

I guess it's because Titus appears headed to winning the primary and the handicappers think she has less chance against Jim Gibbons.

Also, I have to admit Gibbons' commercials are much more effective than I anticipated. And he didn't blunder in the debates. Last night all three Republicans were acting juvenile in the final debate, one accusation after another.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. New poll has Titus leading the primary by 19

A margin like that would shock me since Gibson led a month or two ago, but every recent indication is Titus has the momentum and is likely to win on Tuesday.