Horsford takes a blow

Bill Raggio's stunning retirement from the Legislature suddenly feels like a funeral.

But not for Raggio, the 84-year-old Reno Republican who ruled over the Senate for decades. No, the man who looks buried is the one who replaced Raggio as Senate majority leader two years ago: Steven Horsford.

No one in the Legislature has lost more leverage as a result of Raggio's departure. Indeed, Horsford increasingly behaves as though he has nothing more to lose.

Just a few months ago, the Las Vegas Democrat had a fairly clear path to the 14 votes needed to pass tax increases out of his chamber and override a veto. Even if Democrats held serve in November's election, preserving their 12-9 majority, Horsford knew he could make a deal with Raggio to cross the aisle and bring at least one other Republican with him, just as Raggio did in 2009.

Then Republicans picked up a Senate seat and replaced outgoing members with new faces, making their caucus much more fiscally conservative in the process. Those senators forced out Raggio as minority leader, partly because of his record of supporting tax increases, but mostly for endorsing Democrat Harry Reid's re-election bid.

Now Raggio is gone, calling it quits just a month before the 2011 session convenes and bruising battles over the budget and redistricting formally begin.

Raggio was expected to be in the middle of it all, as usual, despite lacking a leadership post. Northern Nevadans were counting on him to deliver an expanded Legislature as part of a redistricting compromise, thus preventing Reno and rural seats from being redrawn inside Clark County. And public-sector loyalists saw him as salvation from the budget cuts promised by Gov. Brian Sandoval, necessitated by the exhaustion of federal stimulus money.

Horsford has made no secret about his desire for tax hikes -- he called for at least $1.5 billion in new revenue over the 2011-13 biennium. With the bulk of Senate Republicans staunchly supporting Sandoval, Horsford could alternately ignore and bully the anti-tax-hike crowd and negotiate directly with Raggio.

That option, like Raggio himself, is history. At the end of the month, the Washoe County Commission will appoint a Republican replacement for Raggio -- almost certainly, someone more fiscally conservative and less likely to deal than the master compromiser. Sandoval will see to that.

Now where does Horsford get his three Republican votes to reach the two-thirds supermajority required by the state constitution?

I'm not sure he can get them anymore. And he's not acting like he can, either.

Horsford hasn't been playing nice since the Republican caucus picked Fallon Sen. Mike McGinness as its leader right after Election Day. The first sign of trouble was the month it took for Horsford to release committee assignments.

The procedural matter typically takes no more than a couple of days. No one on either side of the aisle will talk about exactly what the hang-up was, but it's safe to say McGinness wasn't asking for GOP majorities and chairmanships, considering Democrats' 11-10 advantage. It takes hard work to turn that task into a bare-knuckles brawl.

And on Thursday, one day after Raggio announced his resignation and three days after Sandoval's olive-branch inaugural address, Horsford fired off a blistering e-mail directed squarely at Sandoval and Senate Republicans.

"Sadly, extreme right-wing interests are lining up to use the budget crisis to dismantle our state," Horsford wrote.

"I did not enter public service to slash funding for our schools or leave our most vulnerable citizens without care. That's why I will fight every day to protect Nevada families from the extreme agenda that threatens our future."

Calling your rivals extremists isn't a constructive path to consensus.

"In the midst of legislative Republicans signaling a willingness to work with Democrats to deal with some incredibly difficult issues, Senator Horsford's comments are both strange and troubling," McGinness responded.

Over in the Assembly, by comparison, Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, has done everything but deliver fresh-baked cookies to minority Republicans. With a 26-16 majority, Oceguera needs two GOP votes to pass tax increases out of his house. He has been open about his belief that the state budget can't be balanced without new revenues, but he hasn't belittled his opposition in making that argument.

The bad blood brewing in the upper chamber does not bode well for the Legislature's chances of concluding its business before the regular session's constitutionally mandated 120-day deadline.

Consider that well before this new round of intimidation, Horsford had already put himself on the wrong side of the GOP by running ruthlessly false and negative campaigns against Republican Senate candidates in 2008 and 2010. Throw in last summer's famous fundraising face plant, in which Horsford was caught promising donors access to himself and committee chairs in exchange for five-figure campaign contributions, and you've got a falling star.

Horsford has engendered no good will. Zippo.

Not that he plans to be in Carson City much longer. He can run for re-election in 2012, but Horsford has ambitions for higher office. He's expected to use his position to draw himself a Democrat-friendly congressional district.

It's just as well for his caucus. Republicans will be in a position to reclaim the state Senate next year, with vulnerable tax-hiking Democrats Shirley Breeden and Allison Copening on the ballot. Horsford won't want to be around to deal with the payback.

Raggio's last day as a senator is Saturday. Although he cited his limited mobility from a bad back and a problem Achilles tendon as the reason for his departure after 38 years, more than any other Nevada senator ever, I can't help but think he also wanted no part of this year's free-for-all.

Raggio leaves on his terms. Good for him.

Save the obituary for Horsford. And if he keeps acting like he's not long for this world, it won't be a glowing one.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.