Officeholders’ time running out

The first time Bruce Woodbury filed his candidacy for office, he was 37.

"Frankly, I had decided I was not going to run," Woodbury said, looking back on that day in 1982.

He had been appointed to an unexpired term on the Clark County Commission and would have to win an election to keep his seat.

"I was just a kid," Woodbury said. "I had a lot of anxiety about whether I could handle it and maintain my law practice and my family commitments. I felt overwhelmed. I said, 'There's no way I can do this.' Fortunately, my wife and others counseled me not to run away. And now they can't seem to get rid of me."

Now 63, Woodbury last week filed his candidacy for the last time under Nevada's term limits. He is among a large group of experienced politicians looking at their last election for their current office this November.

At least 10 members of the Assembly and five state senators are filing for a last term this month, in the filing period that ends Friday.

It's the first time a large number of officeholders are being pushed out by term limits, which were approved by voters for the second time and took effect as an amendment to the state constitution in 1996.

Another six state senators already have run their last elections, in 2006, meaning their four-year terms will end in 2010.

Those running for the last time this year include the leaders of both houses, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, and state Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, as well as rural stalwarts like Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, and legislative heavyweights like Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

Some also see a well-timed opportunity for retirement, while others are likely to continue their political careers in other offices.

Woodbury, the longest-serving Clark County commissioner in history, says this would be his last term even without the limits.

"The timing is right for me," Woodbury said. "Maybe I'll run for something important, like Boulder City Council."

Woodbury, a Republican, denied that he is grooming his eldest daughter, Melissa, who is running for the Assembly, to succeed him. Like almost all the politicians being forced out, he opposes term limits.

"It takes away the freedom of the people to elect who they want to," he said. "Look at the County Commission races for the last 20 years. Voters have had no problem kicking people out, or people have decided not to run because they knew they were in trouble."

Proponents of term limits say they are needed because incumbents have a near-insurmountable advantage at the ballot box; unless they are barred, some offices will rarely be infused with fresh blood. The longer politicians hold office, according to the pro-limits argument, the more apt they are to get cozy with special interests and to lose touch with their constituents.

Nevada's law limits state legislators and local officials to 12 years in a particular office, which equals three four-year state Senate or County Commission terms, or six two-year Assembly terms.

Constitutional officers, such as the governor, controller and attorney general, are limited to eight years or two four-year terms.

Those term limits, plus term limits for judges, were first passed by voters in the 1994 election. In 1996, the Nevada Supreme Court decided the judges were a separate issue and split the ballot question in two.

In the 1996 election, voters approved the term limits for officials but defeated the judicial limits.

Authorities have interpreted term limits as applying to legislators starting with the following election, in 1998. Thus, a longtime legislator such as Marvel, first elected in 1978, had six terms left starting with the 1998 election.

For Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, the clock started when she was first elected in 1998. Despite the 20-year difference in tenure, she and Marvel will be "termed out" at the same time.

Because voters approved two different versions of term limits, analysts see the measure as ripe for a legal challenge. But no one has brought such a challenge. For now, at least, term limits are here to stay.

"It's a sad moment, but it's reality," said Arberry as he reflected on his last term. "The people spoke. They want us out. The sad part is all the experience that will be lost with the people who will be termed out. I'm not taking away from the future prospects of the people who will be coming in, but they won't have that institutional knowledge."

In the Assembly, the 10 members expected to run for a last term this fall represent 162 years of experience in the body. An 11th, Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, says he hasn't decided whether to run for re-election or to run for state Senate instead; he adds another 14 years to that total.

Arberry, 55, could see himself running for something else, but said he wouldn't run against his friends in the overlapping districts: state Sen. Steven Horsford, County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly or Las Vegas Councilman Ricki Barlow.

State Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, worries that without the seniority of longtime representatives, rural Nevada will lose clout in the Legislature.

"If it wasn't for seniority, I probably wouldn't be chairman of a committee," said McGinness, 61, who chairs the Taxation Committee and was first elected in 1992.

With everyone serving 12 years, chairmanships are more likely to be doled out to members from urban districts, he said.

Raggio, the longest-serving state senator in Nevada history, is 81 and would be running for his last term regardless, he says. But he worries about the future of the Legislature.

"You lose historical reference in large measure -- the reasons why bills were passed years ago, for example. I can tell you it takes a long time to understand the state budget process; never mind policies and the reasons behind those policies."

A bronze bust is in the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, a tribute to his work creating the area's airport authority. You don't get that kind of eminence in 12 years.

"These things are time-consuming," Raggio said of the many projects he has taken on over the years. "It takes time to get to a goal. Even 12 years can be a short time in that process."

Many also worry that 2011, the first year the Legislature will see a large influx of new faces, is a redistricting year. Since the U.S. Census is done every 10 years and districts are based on it, in 2011 the Legislature will be looking to change the way the state is carved up into state Senate, Assembly and U.S. House districts based on how the population has shifted.

Because Nevada has experienced heavy growth over that time, it is likely that a fourth House seat will be added, and the Legislature will have to decide whether to expand beyond its current 63-member size. There are 42 members of the Assembly, 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans, and 21 members of the state Senate, 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats.

Buckley noted that politicians will be limited to 12 years, but lobbyists and bureaucrats are not, meaning the Legislature may become easier, not harder, for special interests to bamboozle and manipulate.

Buckley, 48, is not expected to retire from politics after this term. Many believe she'll run for governor, although she says she hasn't decided.

Buckley recalls all she learned from longtime legislators like Raggio and former Speaker Joe Dini, who "would call me into his office and give me speeches: 'Did you know this bill didn't pass before because of this concern? Did you know in Lyon County they don't support this legislation?' And my eyes would open wider and wider."

Buckley said, "Legislators of all political persuasions will lose their seats. Some I agree with, some I don't, but experience matters."

Only one legislator who is about to be forced out spoke in favor of term limits: Assemblyman Jerry Claborn, D-Las Vegas.

"I can remember when they had some crucial votes (in the U.S. Senate) and they had to get Strom out of the hospital and prop him up," Claborn said, referring to former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who was 100 years old when he left office in 2003.

"I love campaigning," said Claborn, who is 68. "If my health holds out, I plan on running for some more offices. I would probably run again (for Assembly) and die up there if it weren't for term limits. But some people are there too long and things never change, and you need a change. Strom probably thought he was doing a good job, even when he was in the hospital."

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.