GOP gets ‘another’ opinion

Republicans in Clark County like Rudy Giuliani, but they also like the idea of someone new in the presidential mix.

A poll commissioned by the Clark County Republican Party earlier this month asked voters registered as Republicans whether they preferred Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson or "get another candidate" for the 2008 presidential election.

The automated poll dialed everyone in Clark County whose Republican voter registration included a telephone number and tabulated the 5,784 responses.

Respondents weren't screened for whether they planned to vote in the 2008 presidential caucuses.

Of those who answered the survey, 31 percent picked Giuliani, while 24 percent said Republicans should continue to look for a presidential candidate. McCain got 16 percent, Romney 15 percent and Thompson 14 percent.

"Frankly, I was surprised how many people chose that," John Stanhagen, a Republican activist and one-time County Commission candidate who designed and conducted the poll, said of the "get another candidate" option.

"Either people are not paying attention, or the candidates are not saying what they want to hear," Stanhagen said.

Stanhagen, who said he has a doctorate in business administration focusing on quantitative analysis, did not calculate a margin of error for the poll.

RUNNING FOR CONGRESS

A Las Vegas accountant has announced he's running for the congressional seat held by Republican Jon Porter.

Andrew Martin, who describes his Las Vegas-based accounting firm as "small but prestigious," has filed paperwork to run for the seat as a Democrat, according to the Federal Election Commission.

He appears to be the first candidate to officially seek the suburban Las Vegas 3rd Congressional District seat in 2008.

Martin, 43, moved to Las Vegas in 2005 from Florida. He said he was motivated to run by having conducted audits of government agencies and seeing how taxpayer money is being mishandled.

"We need to put America first," he said. "We have so many problems here at home, starting with our federal debt. We don't need to go all over the world spending billions of dollars on wars that don't accomplish anything."

Martin is gay and lives with his partner of more than 20 years. He said voters will appreciate his honesty and his status as a political outsider.

Although the election is a year and a half away, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been to Nevada to scope out potential candidates to oppose Porter, who is seen as vulnerable.

The district is nearly evenly divided between registered Democrats and Republicans, but Democrats appear to be gaining a small advantage. As of May 7, the district had 4,284 more Democrats than Republicans, giving the Democrats 40.6 percent to the Republicans' 39.5 percent of the 386,085 registered voters.

In November 2006, the Democrats' advantage was less than half that much: 1,964 voters, or 0.5 percent of the total.

Sources say state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus remains interested in pursuing a run for the seat, but two others who were considering it, County Commissioner Rory Reid and former Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, have more or less opted out.

A spokesman for the three-term congressman, Matt Leffingwell, said Porter "is focused on the issues in Washington and won't comment on any opponents until after the Democratic primary," scheduled for August 2008.

CAMPAIGNING IN RENO

Nevada's new status as an early presidential caucus state is drawing advocacy campaigns here, but not to Las Vegas.

Two recently unveiled national campaigns plan to stop in Reno as they tour the early states.

On Tuesday, a coalition of health care advocates is scheduled to hold a rally at Reno's Bartleby Ranch, calling on candidates to address the issue of health care coverage. Other rallies will be held Tuesday in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Harry Johns, CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, will speak at the Reno event, as will locals affected by lack of affordable health care. The "Are You Covered?" campaign includes the chief executives of AARP, the American Cancer Society Action Network, the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association.

Meanwhile, a faith-based gay-rights group will make Reno one of its stops in August. Faith in America's "Call to Courage" campaign will stop in five cities to conduct polling, grass-roots organizing and mail and broadcast advertising. It started this month in Ames, Iowa, and after coming to Reno will also hit Greenville, S.C.; Manchester, N.H., and Colorado Springs, Colo., by November. Many national Christian organizations are headquartered in Colorado Springs.

The group seeks to "bridge the gaps of tolerance and understanding" between religious leaders and the community of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, according to a statement from its executive director, minister Jimmy Creech.

DEFENDING REID

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., came to the defense of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week on the House floor after a Florida congresswoman criticized Reid for saying the war in Iraq is lost.

Ginny Brown-Waite, a third-term Republican, said "defeatist comments" like Reid's should be condemned by "any freedom-loving member of this body."

"For the leader of one of the greatest legislative bodies in the world to concede defeat in Iraq is a sad commentary on the state of politics in our nation," Brown-Waite said.

Berkley, who happened to be on the House floor when Brown-Waite spoke, asked for time to respond.

"Now, I can't account for everything this man has said, but to get on the floor of the House of Representatives and condemn a true patriot, somebody who cares passionately about his fellow citizens and somebody that stays awake at night because of the loss of life and limb in Iraq, to condemn that person on the floor of the House of Representatives I think is a disgrace," Berkley said.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers said the senator appreciated Berkley's statement and "for not letting this attack go unanswered."

"Unlike so many Republicans who are willing to give President Bush a blank check, Congresswoman Berkley and Senator Reid believe it is not the job of American troops to police a civil war," Summers said.

CAMPAIGN STAFF UPDATE

Democratic presidential contender Chris Dodd has hired new Nevada staff.

Chris Wedge, a Nevada native who coordinated Jack Carter's U.S. Senate campaign in Northern Nevada, has signed on as Northern Nevada director for Dodd. And Dave Schwartz, another former Carter staffer, will be Dodd's Southern Nevada organizer.

"As Nevada's Democrats prepare for their earliest caucus ever, the Dodd campaign is committed to building an organization that reflects the experience and leadership which Chris Dodd brings to this campaign," Dave Thomas, senior adviser to Dodd's Nevada campaign, said in a statement.

Stephens Washington Bureau writer Tony Batt contributed to this report. Contact political reporter Molly Ball at 387-2919 or MBall@reviewjournal.com.