Key Nevada lawmakers vying for governor

Despite pledges to put their gubernatorial ambitions aside, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus set the stage at the start of the 2005 Nevada Legislature for what could be four months of political sparring.

While neither Titus nor Perkins has officially declared their candidacies, both want to fill the seat that will be vacated by Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn in 2006 when term limits force him from office.

And the two Democrats, particularly Perkins, are acting as if their campaigns already are off and running.

"I think that even if not everything they're doing is motivated by their gubernatorial runs, the perception will be that it is," said David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Everything is going to be looked at as them positioning for the future."

On the Legislature's traditionally ceremonial opening day, Perkins, D-Henderson, gave a 15-minute speech to the Assembly that in large part outlined his policy plans for the 120-day session.

On the other end of the building, Titus, D-Las Vegas, heard about his remarks and said that in the interest of moving things along, she would not offer a rebuttal to Perkins' "gubernatorial speech" given down the hall.

Earlier that day at a Democratic news conference, Perkins also called Titus' proposal to freeze skyrocketing property taxes a "fallback" plan. He later spelled out his own proposal, which would exempt the first $50,000 of a property's value from taxes.

Richard Siegel, political science professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, said he doesn't think the competition between the two will break out into the open any more than it has already.

But even if not overt, the tension and one-upmanship between Titus and Perkins could spill over into the party - and its policy-making ability.

"This is the type of power vacuum that (Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio) just absorbs," said Eric Herzik, political science professor at UNR. "The problem then becomes for the rest of the Democrats that, if their leaders lose sight of the party's policy interests, at what point does the Democratic caucus say, 'Wait a minute, no. No to the infighting."'

Herzik said if Democrats, who hold a majority in the Assembly and a minority in the Senate, break into opposing factions, the Republicans "will step up and say, 'We have to get work done.' They'll say, 'You guys can't even get on the same page."'

Raggio said that won't be the case.

"I don't think it will have any effect on Republicans. Not at all," he said. "We usually have people running for higher office that are in the Legislature. They're entitled to use their position, I guess, for that opportunity. We understand."

Titus, who is also a UNLV professor, and Perkins, a deputy police chief in Henderson, have promised to do their best to get along.

"I'm a Nevadan first. Then I'm Speaker of the Assembly. If I'm not successful in either of those, then a potential run for governor wouldn't work anyway," Perkins said. "In order for me to do those two things successfully I've got to work very well with the senator and I intend to."

For her part, Titus said the differences between the two of them revolve around "priority and style," not policy.

"We're both good Democrats. We both care about getting that agenda through the Legislature," she said. "We're going to put (the campaign) on hold is what we're going to do. The campaign can't start until summer because there are too many important issues that we need to get addressed now."

Still, a bill by Perkins that seeks to tighten state ethics laws also includes a provision to keep public officials from seeking other elected office before their terms are out. Such a provision would keep Titus, just re-elected last fall to a new four-year term in the Senate, from running for governor.

Perkins said he will "most likely" take that restriction out of his bill.

Siegel said Titus might have a harder time getting her name in lights during the session because, while a smart leader, she leads the minority party in the Senate.

"The Democrats in the Senate have to rely on the Democrats in the Assembly to push an agenda," he said. "The Democrats in the Assembly have the real power. They have smart and powerful and effective leadership. Perkins is part of that team and he can get a great deal accomplished in the Legislature. That's a given."

But Siegel said that even if Perkins pulls away from Titus, he may not be a factor against strong Republican contenders for governor, such as U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons.

"They may be the principal contenders on the Democratic side, but I'm not sure that they are the principal competitors altogether," Siegel said.

A Las Vegas Review-Journal poll in March 2004 showed Titus, who has been Senate minority leader since 1993, has much higher name recognition than Perkins. She was recognized by 59 percent of the 625 registered voters either favorably, unfavorably or neutrally. Perkins came in at 38 percent, with almost two-thirds of the responses neutral. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Both were far behind Gibbons and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a Democrat, who also has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate along with Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, another Democrat.

"They both have name recognition problems outside of southern Nevada. You'll see them trying to get some headlines," Damore said. "On the other hand, most voters don't care about this. How much this resonates with the average voter, I don't know."