Cross Psoted at MyDD with minor edits
In what could be a very positive development for Democrats in Nevada, State Assembly leader Richard Perkins has announced his decision not to seek the Democratic Nomination for Governor.
His decision leaves two Democrats in the race, Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, who has made her formal announcement, and Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who is expected to make his announcement soon.
Titus, a popular State Senator from the Las Vegas area, has been appearing at almost any function since before last May, making no secret that she wanted to run for Governor. She has been working the rural areas extensively since shortly after the last special legislative session when she made her formal announcement. Titus has the grassroots support needed to be a successful candidate. She is trying to follow the mold of the popular former Governor and Senator Richard Bryan.
More Below the Fold
Perkins, with a long history of working within the system, being an able negotiator, and with a law and order reputation as a former peace officer that would go over well in the rural counties of this state, he was widely seen as the establishment pick to run for Governor.
Jim Gibson has little name recognition in the northern and rural areas of the state; my impression is that he is a conservative Democratic candidate. I have no idea what effect the withdrawal of Perkins will have on Gibson's decision to run.
The Dark Side:
Jim Gibbons: Current Bush rubber stamp in Congress. After being denied chairmanship of a committee by DeLay, decided to take his marbles and go home. He has an extensive outreach network in his congressional district which encompasses the entire state of Nevada except for Clark County (Las Vegas) and some bits of counties surrounding Clark.
Gibbons has made a name for himself by pushing initiative petitions to require a super majority of representatives to raise taxes. Much to the embarrassment of the GOP establishment when it came time for Governor Guinn ( R ) to ask the Senate ( Rep. Majority) and Assembly (Dem. Majority) to increase taxes. A minority (mean 15) of radical Republican assembly members held up the increase and caused a very expensive special session; A deadlock that was broken only by an adverse ruling against the initiative by the Nevada Supreme Court. The initiative has made Gibbons a lot of subtle enemies in the state GOP.
Bob Beers: First term State Senator from Las Vegas, he was a member of the Mean 15 in the Assembly in the previous session. A strong fiscal conservative, wants to relentlessly cut services from government. His main mantra is lowering taxes, despite his Senatorial vote for the record $5.9 billion state budget in the legislative session that just ended.
Loraine Hunt: Current Lieutenant Governor who is popular in Las Vegas but has little rural or northern support. She was elected to current office mainly on the coattails of the current Governor Kenny Guinn who is prohibited by law from seeking another term.
Gibbons is clearly the front runner for Governor at this point. However, his rubber stamp reputation should work against him in a state that prides itself with being `independent'.
With Perkins now out of the race there is no real hand-wringing on the Democratic side about a nasty primary. Titus can use your support as Gibbons has over two million for this race. Titus seems to be the grassroots Dems choice and thanks to early, hard campaigning, has emerged as the front runner for the Democratic nomination. She is an old style campaigner who goes out and asks for votes, her advantage will be in getting out and meeting people. An advantage she has already been using to overcome the cash disadvantage.