Pubdate: Sun, 01 Sep 2002
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact:  http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Ray Hagar
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law 
Enforcement)

GUINN HAS SOLID LEAD IN RACE FOR GOVERNOR

14 candidates: Incumbent's funds far exceed challenger cash

Political experts say that Gov. Kenny Guinn is almost unbeatable entering 
Tuesday's Republican and Democratic primary elections.

As one of the most entrenched governors in Nevada history, Guinn has 
amassed more than a $3 million campaign war chest over the past four years. 
The sum is far more than the combined campaign funds of the 13 others that 
have filed for the office. Guinn also leads all candidates by at least a 
3-1 margin in most statewide polls.

But Bruce Westcott, the president of a Las Vegas recording company, doesn't 
believe the experts.

Of all the challengers, he alone says his chances of winning Tuesday's 
Republican primary are just as good as Guinn's.

"As incredible as it may sound, I'd say my chances are 50-50 right now," 
said Westcott, 64.

"If enough people get to the polls with enough information on both 
candidates, I believe my chances may even be more than 50-50," Westcott said.

Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, 
Reno, disagrees with Westcott.

"For Guinn to be defeated, it would be like a 100-year flood," Herzik said. 
"It would be like snow in Las Vegas in July."

That goes for November's general election, too, Herzik said.

"Kenny Guinn is backed by the state employees union, the teachers' union 
and most of organized labor," Herzik said. "Those are endorsements that 
usually go to the Democrats. Gaming backs him. That is an incredible bridge 
he has built. That's why he is unbeatable."

Even Sen. Joe Neal of North Las Vegas, the front-runner in the Democratic 
primary, acknowledges he faces an extremely difficult task if he survives 
Tuesday's vote and advances to the general election.

"We could never match Guinn dollar for dollar," Neal said. "We can never 
win that battle."

Westcott may be alone in his optimism, but all the candidates in Tuesday's 
primary clutch a glimmer of hope that they will be living in the Governor's 
Mansion in Carson City come November.

Many are novices when it comes to statewide politics, however.

"It can be done," Reno Democrat Dan Meyer, 43, said. "Sure it's an uphill 
battle but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try.

"There are a lot of unhappy people in the state right now," said Meyer, a 
businessman who owns Comstock Slot Games and Comstock ATM. "Whether people 
want me or not, I can do the job. It's important that the leadership in 
Carson City have a grasp of the whole state and not just part of it. Up 
here (in northern Nevada), we are a second thought to them. That is my 
message. How far it will take me, I don't know. I'm not quitting my day job."

Guinn, 66, is not taking chances, even with the predictions and polls.

He still has $1.7 million left in his campaign fund with $1 million more in 
pledges on hold. After pushing through his medical malpractice tort reform 
at last month's special session of the Legislature, Guinn said he has been 
campaigning like he's in a tight race.

"I've been to Winnemucca, Pioche, Lund, Ely, Gardnerville, Carson City, 
Reno and Las Vegas," Guinn said about campaign stops. "I was in Pahrump 
before the special session."

Even though he is ahead, Guinn said he is always looking behind.

"I played enough football and coached enough high school football to know 
that you can never underestimate your opponent," said Guinn, a former 
fullback at the University of Southern California and Fresno State University.

Guinn said he admired Westcott for his confidence but doesn't agree that 
the race is even.

"I don't know about 50-50, but anybody who gets in the race has to feel in 
their own mind that they have some kind of chance," Guinn said. "But I have 
not seen him traveling the state. If you are not out there working, you 
can't talk yourself into this job."

Westcott, however, said he has been "out there working" even if the 
governor hasn't noticed.

"My political campaign has been conducted thus far through thousands of 
hours of hard work, inches of shoe leather, many thousands of e- mails, 
hundreds of telephone conversations, incredible amounts of word-of-mouth 
networking, a preponderance of thought and a platform of sensible ideas and 
solutions," Westcott said.

He adds that he has paid for the campaign with "personal donations of my 
family's facilities" with $1,172.91 in expenditures, and $270.00 in 
political contributions.

"The total in sum comprise a powerful force more than enough to beat the 
Guinn Machine," he said.

Guinn vs. Neal

Guinn said he'll probably face Neal in the general election but is 
unruffled by Neal's criticism of him.

Neal has called Guinn the "palace guard" for the gaming industry and chided 
the governor for not yet returning a $10,000 campaign contribution from 
Enron, the failed energy giant in Houston.

Guinn said he has yet to return the money to make sure that it goes to help 
the thousands of employees who lost their retirement savings in the Enron 
collapse and not back to the company's tainted managers.

"Well, he is certainly running for office and he has to say something," 
Guinn said. "But Joe Neal has been a good friend of mine for 38 years. He 
as always been critical of some of the things we have done but if you check 
the record, you'll find that he has also said some very positive things 
about me and my administration."

Before he focuses on Neal, however, Guinn must clear Tuesday's primary.

The Republicans

Guinn faces fellow Las Vegans Westcott, Shirley Cook and Carlos Poliak in 
Tuesday's primary along with Fallon's Stanleigh Lusak and Ely's Bill Hiett.

Cook, Poliak and Lusak could not be reached for comment despite repeated 
telephone calls.

Westcott is the only Republican with an extensive Web site outlining his 
platform.

He would like to raise state gaming taxes from their current 6.25 percent 
to 7.5 percent.

"It is a very mild increase and certainly relative to what they can pay," 
Westcott said. "If we raised the gaming tax to 7.5 percent, it would give 
the state an additional $115 million and that money could dedicated to our 
educational plan."

He also wants to place a heavier tax on cigarettes and wants to re- direct 
the state tobacco settlement money from one of Guinn's pet projects -- the 
Millennium scholarships -- to heath care. Westcott wants the tobacco money 
to be used specifically to help people sickened by smoking.

"My mom died of heart failure because of smoking," Westcott said. "She died 
here in Nevada where the health care facilities for heart failure and other 
smoking-related diseases are not good.

"Giving the tobacco money to the Millennium scholarship fund was really 
politically motivated."

Westcott said that if elected, he would introduce legislation to strengthen 
laws against the illegal 1entry of immigrants into Nevada.

"Nevada shall not, in any respect, be an annexation of the Republic of 
Mexico," Westcott said. "As governor of Nevada, I would have two words for 
anyone residing in Nevada illegally: Register and assimilate."

Westcott said that as governor, he would request that all of Nevada's law 
enforcement agencies work with the governor's office to enforce current 
immigration laws.

The marijuana candidate

Hiett, 61, is a confessed hippie from the 1960s. The 19-year Nevada 
resident who lives off an inheritance has a one-issue platform. If elected, 
he would begin state-run marijuana farms to grow pot, harvest it and sell 
one-ounce bags for $100.

It would add millions of dollars to the state treasury," Hiett said. 
"Millions of people would come to Nevada. Just think how that would improve 
the economy."

Hiett's plan mirrors that proposed by Nevadans for Responsible Law 
Enforcement, a group who feels Nevada could make millions selling and 
taxing pot.

Yet federal law would prohibit any state from selling or taxing marijuana, 
said Washoe County district attorney Dick Gammick.

Hiett said he also would like the state to go back to making just one style 
of license plate and wants to get rid of seat belts, child safety 
restraints and boating life preservers.

"They are a nuisance and are against my constitutional rights."

He said he would also admit to having smoked pot.

"I've inhaled and held it in my lungs for a long time," Hiett said.

The Democrats

For the Democrats, the biggest campaign issue has been Neal's refusal to 
debate gubernatorial candidate Barbara Scott, a former Las Vegas topless 
dancer who now lives in Gardnerville.

"I recognize the ploy," Neal said. "She is using me to elevate herself."

Neal said he is not ignoring Scott. He just wants to run his campaign, 
lashing out at the gaming industry for not paying its fair share of taxes.

"I am running my own campaign and hope she will do the same. My fight is 
not with her. My fight is with the gaming industry."

Neal's fight especially is with the state's major hotel-casinos. He wants 
to raise taxes on gaming establishments those top $1 million gross profits 
per year from 6.25 percent to 10.25 percent.

"They make enough money to pay that, their fare share," Neal said. "If the 
gaming industry were to pay 10.25 percent, it would bring $400 million more 
into the state annually."

Neal opposes an increase on the sales tax, saying that would "hit the 
little guy."

"We have reached a saturation points on all the other tax resources," Neal 
said. "Gaming is going to have to step up to the plate or someone like me 
is going to have to pull them up to the plate."

Four year ago, Neal also mounted a campaign for governor but Democrats 
chose former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones to be the party's candidate in the 
general election.

This year, Neal says, no other Democrat may be strong enough to beat him in 
the primary.

Neal's campaign finance report showed only his $300 filing fee, but he 
vowed to step up the fund raising after the primary.

If he survives the primary, Neal said he would be running against the 
gaming industry in the general election, not Guinn.

"Kenny Guinn is just the palace guard that I'll have to go through to get 
to the gaming industry," Neal said.

Neal would also be the first black candidate to run in the general election 
for governor in Nevada, said state archivist Guy Rocha.

"I don't know if that would be a factor, but we'll find out," Neal said. 
"In the larger counties, such as Clark and Washoe, you have had many blacks 
elected to substantial offices, such as (Sen. Bernice) Mathews (D-Reno) and 
(Sen. Maurice) Washington (D-Sparks). In Clark, we have two black judges, 
blacks on the county commission and in the Assembly.

"It becomes a question once you run statewide," Neal said. "In the smaller 
towns, I would assume that there would be some prejudice against a black 
running for office, but not a substantial amount. People are looking for a 
candidate who can address their needs and in that sense, I seem to be on 
equal footing."

The lap dancers' candidate

Scott said she wanted to debate Neal to hear his opinions of Medicaid 
funding and other health issues. She also says that Guinn has mismanaged 
the state's budget, leading to Nevada current $275 million projected 
deficit for the biennium.

She also said that Guinn has failed to improve the funding and the quality 
of education in Nevada's public schools.

"Four years ago when he was elected, people thought that things were going 
to get better as far as education is concerned because Guinn was a former 
school district superintendent," Scott said. "But really, they have gotten 
worse. We have gone downhill."

Scott also criticized the Millennium scholarship program.

"After students graduate from school, they are not going to stay in the 
state because we don't have a future for them. We don't have enough industry."

She would like to see another telephone company and power company to come 
to northern Nevada, give some competition of Nevada Bell and Sierra Pacific 
Power Co. as a way to drop utility bills for customers. She added she would 
like the see the same competitive system occur in southern Nevada.

Scott said her past profession, as a topless dancer, hasn't seemed to hurt 
her campaign. It may have even helped.

Laws governing lap dancers in Clark County have become a big political 
issue and the gentlemen's' clubs strip joints in Las Vegas and Clark County 
employ more than 5,000 dancers, according to Las Vegas media reports. Scott 
has offered to help them fight laws that the dancers say hinder their 
ability to make money.

Clark County's 5,000 dancers comprise a large block of voters, Scott hopes.

"I'm not ashamed of being a topless dancer," said Scott, who raised three 
children as a single mother by dancing. "I don't believe it has hurt me in 
the campaign. And they (Las Vegas dancers) need my help with what the 
county is trying to do to them."

Reno's candidate

Meyer has a plan to win Tuesday.

He is the only Democrat from Reno in the race. The rest are from Las Vegas, 
except for Scott. But she, too, has strong Las Vegas ties.

If Meyer can carry the Reno vote and all the rest can take votes from each 
other, he just might slip into the general election.

His concerns deal with the struggles of small businessmen Reno, so he was 
asked why not run for a seat on the Washoe County Commission instead of 
joining the race for the state chief executive's office.

"If you are going to yell, you might as well yell from the top of the 
hill," he said.

Meyer thinks he would be a good chief executive since he can think on his 
feet and is a good organizer.

He also said he is a good public speaker.

"I used to be a ski instructor for 20 years and I'm used to standing in 
front of people speaking," he said. "I can stand in front of people and 
speak to them during a windstorm, but I do feel better with ski poles in my 
hands."

He said he has run a limited campaign and it has helped in acquiring more 
business contacts. He said he feels like he has grown personally just by 
giving it a try.

"I'm a person taking a chance, sticking my neck out. People don't grow and 
advance without taking a chance. Sometimes, you just have to step out of 
the box."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom