Clinton organizer at home for holiday

It was a very Democratic Thanksgiving last week at the home of Allison and Kevin Edwards.

Allison is an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, while her husband is rooting for Bill Richardson. Last week, the Reno couple and their family also broke bread with a paid organizer for Clinton's presidential campaign.

With many lowly organizers far from home and not very well compensated, many Clinton campaign volunteers in Nevada opened their homes to staffers for the holiday, the campaign says. Spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said one Clinton volunteer in Henderson fed 10 organizers in addition to her 15 family members.

Maybe it's a Hillary thing. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that Clinton was the candidate voters were most likely to want to invite to Thanksgiving dinner.

In the Edwardses' case, organizer Kevin Snowden is more than just a dinner guest. For three months now, he's been living in their spare room. The Edwardses took him in after his previous roommate situation ended and he needed a place to stay through the Jan. 19 caucuses.

"They work so hard at the campaign, there are days when we don't even see him," said Allison, who was preparing a traditional spread for Snowden and several visiting relatives. "We're excited to see him eat a nice home-cooked meal for once. After Thanksgiving, he'll be working till the caucus."

Husband and wife both are volunteering for their chosen candidates. Allison hosted a small house party in September for Clinton supporters featuring former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

The split in candidate preference hasn't caused rancor between the two.

"We're both Democrats, and we have respect for all of the Democratic candidates," Allison said.

But they have returned from trips out of town to find their quarters festooned with Clinton signs. Likewise, Snowden has returned to his room to find it full of Richardson materials.

DR. NO-WHERE?

Signs on the doors of UNLV's Ham Hall last week noted that an advertisement in the Review-Journal had listed incorrect information for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign events in Southern Nevada.

A noon lunch with the Texas congressman was listed as taking place at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall, while a 3 p.m. rally was said to be happening in Pahrump. In fact, the noon lunch was a private fundraiser at a Las Vegas home, while the 3 p.m. event was at Ham Hall. The Pahrump event was scheduled for 7 p.m.

"Thank you for your patience," signs on Ham Hall's doors said. "The campaign apologizes for any confusion."

Paul supporters, who are quick to perceive slights to their contrarian candidate and to see sinister explanations for things, viewed the mix-up with suspicion. Never mind that the error was in an ad purchased by the campaign itself.

Several people at the rally could be heard murmuring about "Karl Rove-type dirty tricks" and/or "liberal media censorship" trying to misdirect people away from hearing Paul. Alas, that wasn't the case.

The advertising firm hired by the campaign made the mistake, according to its president.

The schedule confusion didn't end there. A news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. was pushed back to 2 p.m., when Paul's plane from Houston was delayed by fog. The last-minute change wasn't widely disseminated; at least a couple of reporters showed up at 10 a.m. and were told to come back later.

A representative of the Paul campaign did telephone at noon to tell of the new time.

ASSEMBLY ROUNDUP

It's never too early to start worrying about next year's Assembly races.

Despite the Democrats' dominating 27-15 advantage in the Legislature's lower house, which is one vote short of the two-thirds needed to override a veto, Republicans so far have more new candidates prepared to run.

Two perpetually competitive seats will be contested as usual. In Henderson's District 29, Democrat Susan Gerhardt will seek re-election to a third term.

The 50-year-old former police officer will be challenged by Sean Fellows, a military veteran who has started campaigning in earnest, holding a fundraiser headlined by practically the entire Republican establishment.

"He's doing everything right," said Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno. "We wish we could duplicate him."

Democrats have an edge of less than 400 voters in the district, which is home to 4,100 nonpartisans in addition to Political Notebook's official neighborhood bar, pizzeria and Trader Joe's.

District 5 will be an open seat, since Republican Valerie Weber will be running for the Clark County Commission. Neither party has a confirmed candidate for the Las Vegas district, where Democrats again have built a small advantage -- 490 voters -- that pales next to the 3,400 nonpartisans.

The Democrats' situation is slightly better in District 23, up for grabs with the decision of Democrat RoseMary Womack not to run again. They have an 1,800-voter advantage in the Henderson district previously represented by former Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, also home to 3,400 nonpartisans.

Democrats had a very tough time finding a candidate for the district in 2006. Womack didn't announce until May and won by just over 300 votes. But sources say they're close to sealing the deal with a credible potential candidate. Republicans don't have anyone firmed up yet.

A contentious Republican primary is likely in District 21, held by Republican Bob Beers, who is despised by the die-hard conservatives who worship the eponymous state senator. Gansert said former Assemblyman and former Treasurer Bob Seale has dropped his plans to run, but Jonathan Ozark, who last year lost a bid to unseat Democrat Joe Hogan in District 10, plans to challenge Beers.

"The caucus will support (Assemblyman) Bob Beers as the incumbent," Gansert said.

Democrats may also try for the seat, where the Republican advantage is 1,400 voters and the nonpartisans number nearly 4,000.

In District 2, being vacated by Republican former Minority Leader Garn Mabey, John Hambrick has declared he's running and last week stepped down as chairman of the Clark County Republican Party.

Hambrick has secured the backing of three university regents, Commissioner Bruce Woodbury and U.S. Sen. John Ensign. A spokesman for Ensign said the senator and the retired Secret Service agent are longtime friends.

Republican Mark DeStefano, a failed candidate for regent and treasurer, still is deciding whether to compete in the primary. Although a strong Democratic candidate ran there last time, the district is strongly Republican and not on the Democrats' list of top targets.

Republicans are expected to make a run at District 40, the Carson City seat held by Democrat Bonnie Parnell despite a sizable Republican registration advantage. Parnell will seek re-election, and no Republican name has yet surfaced.

If the Democrats did gain a seat, the vaunted "veto-proof majority" wouldn't have much real effect. Veto overrides must meet the same threshold in the state Senate, which the Republicans control 11-10; two thirds would be 14 votes, and neither party has a realistic hope of reaching that threshold.

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