Dawn Gibbons talks on Dec. 21 about her opportunities as first lady. Her husband, Jim Gibbons, will be sworn in as Nevada's governor today. Photos by Cathleen Allison / Special to the Review-Journal. Dawn Gibbons, outside the Governor's Mansion, says tackling methamphetamine addiction will be one of her priorities as first lady.

CARSON CITY -- Don't expect Dawn Gibbons to spend much time baking cookies in the Governor's Mansion after her husband becomes governor today.

She intends to become what she calls a "21st-century first lady," and that means tackling issues such as Nevada's growing methamphetamine addiction problem and offering mansion visits as rewards to encourage young people to read.

"Nevada is number one in the nation for people who have used or currently use meth," said Gibbons, who is married to Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons. "It is not a statistic we want. Jim is going to declare war on meth."

She intends to give speeches, raise money and, if her husband wants, testify before the Legislature on the need for money to treat methamphetamine addiction.

Gibbons said she will turn part of the Nevada Stateroom, a building adjacent to the mansion, into a minilibrary. And good students who read a lot of books will be honored, photographed and allowed to choose a book from the shelves as a keepsake.

The new first lady also will impose a no-alcohol rule for mansion parties, gatherings and all events sponsored by the governor and his office.

Although Gibbons, 52, chuckles about once winning third prize at the state fair for her peanut butter cookies, and she won't mind showing off her baking skills, she figures first ladies no longer just play hostess and smile for photos with mansion visitors.

A 21st-century first lady, according to Gibbons, means "you can be whatever you want to be."

"I am like most women in Nevada," she said. "I worked all my life. I owned businesses (wedding chapels, flower shops and a photography studio). I had a lot of difficult times growing up."

What makes her unique is she served four terms in the Legislature, and in 2003 was one of the five Republican Assembly members who voted for the record $833 million tax increase.

Last summer she was defeated by Dean Heller and Sharron Angle in the Republican primary for the 2nd Congressional District seat, which Heller eventually won.

"I would rather lose an election than go down in history for not supporting education," Gibbons said. "I tried to make cuts where appropriate. I vote for what is good for people. I don't consider that being liberal. I am never going to run away from trying to help people."

Former Nevada Press Association President Ande Engleman, who will serve as her press aide and chief of staff, said Dawn Gibbons is a typical modern first lady. Today many first ladies are judges, businesswomen and elected officials, she said. Almost all have college degrees.

Engleman figures one of her jobs will be making sure people "don't go to Dawn to get to Jim."

Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, said there is debate nationally on how public of a role should be played by first ladies or significant others to governors.

"Some of the public tends not to want them to have that much visibility," he said. "We elected him, not her."

First ladies who bake cookies died with Ozzie and Harriet, Lokken said. Even less publicly active first ladies in Nevada still pursued issues on which they had strong opinions, he added.

"It is her (Dawn Gibbons') right to carve out her role," he added. "But the roles they play tend to be behind the scenes."

Dawn Gibbons rattles off the names of key Democratic legislators with whom she has worked amicably while serving in the Legislature.

She calls incoming Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, "a really good friend," and anticipates she can help her husband in dealing with lawmakers because she knows them well.

"I don't need to be political, but I am in a position to help people. People will tell me things, confide in me. I can be the bleeding heart."

Gibbons said she wants to frequently invite legislators to the mansion for dinners and informal discussions with her husband.

"Legislators like to have access to the governor," she said. "As a legislator, I only had one visit to the governor, that as a member of a group. Jim wants to reach out to every legislator. I want them to feel comfortable with him for the good of the state. It is a way I can help."

Gibbons grew up in Atlanta, the daughter of a man who was one of the managers of the Atlanta Constitution and Journal, now called the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Members of the Atlanta Braves were guests at their home. Gibbons has a collection of autographed bats and a home run ball hit by Hank Aaron. Aaron's daughter was one of her classmates.

The Gibbons' home in southwest Reno is only about 25 miles from the state Capitol, but they intend to make the mansion their full-time home.

"It will take a while to work things out with the pets," she said. The couple have four dogs. They want to find a caretaker for their Reno home, but they may stay there occasionally.

A friend in Las Vegas has offered them space where they can stay when they have business in Southern Nevada.

Gibbons said she would prefer the state not appropriate money to rent them a home or apartment in Las Vegas.

"I would like to buy a place in Las Vegas, but right now we don't have the funds," she said. "I am not sure the state should provide money when there are so many other needs."

Their 19-year-old son, Jimmy, is a student at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York. Jim Gibbons has two children, Chris, 30, and Jennifer, 27, from a previous marriage.

While Jim Gibbons is the state's first Mormon governor, Dawn Gibbons is a Presbyterian.

"I live one day at a time," she said. "I used to teach Sunday school. I feel I am deeply religious. But I am not too keen on organized religion. Religion is a very private matter."

Gibbons said she was appalled by the federal government resistance that Roberta Stewart met when she tried to have a Wiccan symbol placed at the grave of her husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in Afghanistan.

"I didn't know anything about his religion, but he gave his life for this country and ought to be honored," she said.

Gibbons said she hopes her former colleagues in the Legislature will have charity in mind when she embarks on her war against methamphetamine.

"We spend a lot of money sending them to prison," she said of drug users caught violating the law. "We can do it more cheaply if we provide resources for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is the only thing that can work.

"Some say it is always with them. I don't want to say that. I want to give them hope. In Elko, I talked to ranchers and they said ranch hands (on methamphetamine) would go away and the ranches fell apart in a week. We don't have the luxury of not doing anything."