Sunday, October 13, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Democratic brass not aiding Neal

Maverick positions hurting legislator

CARSON CITY -- After 30 years of standing up for principles of the Democratic Party in the state Senate, Joe Neal can't understand why he is now treated like a pariah by the party's top supporters in his campaign for governor.

A dearth of donations is making it impossible for Neal to buy advertising. He wants to debate Gov. Kenny Guinn on television, but stations so far have turned him down, writing the race off, he said. He backed labor for decades in the Legislature, but labor endorsed Guinn and won't donate to his campaign.

"I am the Democratic nominee," Neal said. "I won the primary, and I am not getting any support from the party. Some individual members of the party have given me checks, but nothing from the party. I think there is an attempt to embarrass me."

University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Eric Herzik said party leaders are making a major mistake by not supporting Neal, the first black nominee for governor from a major party.

"Minority voters are among the most loyal Democrats, and you are turning your back on the first minority governor candidate," Herzik said.

Herzik predicted the Democrat ticket of six statewide candidates will be hurt by the party's snubbing of Neal. The party further shot itself in the foot by not putting forth credible candidates in the races for secretary of state and state treasurer, according to Herzik.

"Joe Neal is a liberal yes, but when was that bad in the Democrat Party? This is going to end up hurting the Democrats. It hurts (lieutenant governor candidate) Erin Kenny. It hurts (attorney general candidate) John Hunt."

Neal said he never speaks with Democratic Party Chairman Terry Care. The lack of support from the chairman particularly irks him because it was not his choice to run for governor in 2002. He filed for office at the last moment after Deputy Attorney General Matthew Dushoff dropped out.

He said he filed for the sake of the party, to give Democrats a gubernatorial candidate with some credibility. Neal pointed out that without his entry into the race, the party's candidate could have been Barbara Scott, a former Las Vegas topless dancer who placed second in the primary.

"You cannot take an individual like me who puts himself up for election and then disregard him," Neal said. "Once a person is nominated for governor, you threaten your whole ticket if you don't support him. You cannot take the top of your ticket and just discount it."

But Care said Neal is not getting Democratic Party support because Neal endorsed the congressional candidacy of Republican Lynette Boggs McDonald in her race against Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

"How can anybody expect the state party to get involved in his candidacy when he has endorsed the opponent of the person at the top of our ticket?" he asked.

The party is not opposing Neal, according to Care, but it's not rushing out to support him either.

"People in the party who have called me and asked about Joe understand my reasoning," said Care, a state senator who sits about 6 feet away from Neal in the Senate chambers. "Many of those people will support Joe Neal."

Care maintained the lack of support for Neal rests entirely with his support of Boggs McDonald. He said he tried to induce others to run for secretary of state and treasurer, but they declined to compete.

"It is tough to get someone to step into a statewide race, and all the stress that takes, and run against an incumbent," Care said.

Guinn, who has raised $2.9 million in the race, said Neal should look at himself before blaming others for a lack of support.

"People don't give you money because you are the candidate at the top of the list," Guinn said. "You can't always be a gadfly. All he wants to do is tax gaming. That won't work anymore."

Guinn added he has seen the fortunes of both parties rise and fall over the years. In 1990 Democratic Gov. Bob Miller defeated unknown Republican businessman Jim Gallaway by more than a 2-1 margin. Four years earlier, Democrat Richard Bryan beat Republican Patty Cafferata by nearly a 3-1 margin in the governor's race. Review-Journal polls show Guinn may surpass that margin in his race against Neal.

"Senator Neal has run in a small arena for 28 years or so," Guinn said. "It is entirely different in a statewide race. You have to get out on your own and work. I didn't go to the party for help. If you can't raise money, then you aren't the candidate that people want to invest money in."

Neal, however, maintains Guinn is the anointed gaming candidate and the lack of Democratic support shows both parties are controlled by gaming.

Without money to campaign, he said, he may not be able to get out his message that the state's financial problems can be solved if the gaming industry pays higher taxes. He favors a 4 percentage point increase to the 6.25 percent gross gaming tax.

Without a gaming tax increase, Neal contends, it's certain that Nevadans will be hit with major tax increases in the 2003 legislative session.

"I can understand Terry Care," Neal said. "He is not in control of the situation. He follows the dictates of gaming."

Neal points out that numerous polls over the years have shown that citizens overwhelmingly favor a gaming tax increase if taxes must be raised.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she understands how Neal feels. She and two other Senate Democrats have sent him a $1,000 donation.

But Titus added it is not just Neal's support of Boggs McDonald that bothers Democrats, but his support of the Yucca Mountain Project, the Energy Department's plan to bury 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"Joe has always been his own man," she said. "He never has been a team player. The hard-core Democrats will vote for Neal."

Herzik said the contention that Neal receives no support because he backed Boggs McDonald, who is black, is an additional insult. "Your smoking gun is he is backing another black candidate. It is like a double shot at the minority voters."

Titus maintained the Democrat Party is at its "gap stage." She said the party is grooming people like Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, Majority Leader Barbara Buckley and Assemblyman David Goldwater to run for statewide offices in 2006.

"I don't think what happens this year will hurt us in the long run," added Titus, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor. "The power of incumbency and the power of anointment and the power of money are running this election cycle."