Dina Titus says time is right for her to battle Porter for a seat in Congress

Driving to Dina Titus' announcement speech Thursday, I recalled Election Night 2006 when she lost her bid for governor to Jim Gibbons. It was not her finest hour. She delayed conceding until past the deadlines of most journalists, hiding out in a meeting room at Caesars Palace. Never had I seen her look so dejected as when she reluctantly emerged to head home.

With all the problems Gibbons had the last few months of his campaign, including reports of an FBI investigation and unproven allegations of a sexual assault on a cocktail waitress, Titus still lost to him by more than 23,000 votes.

During the drive to Henderson, where the Democratic state senator announced she would try to topple three-term Republican Congressman Jon Porter, I questioned whether this was her wisest choice. If she fails this time, she does not get to return to the safe Senate seat she's held for 20 years.

Come November, the university political science professor will either be heading to Congress as a freshman or she'll be bounced out of politics, at least for a while. Two losses this close together could be devastating. (Of course, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came back after two lost races in 1974 and 1975, a squeaker loss for the U.S. Senate followed by a not-even-close loss for Las Vegas mayor the next year.)

Titus, a policy wonk, is surrendering a sure thing in the state Senate, where, whether she's majority leader or minority leader, she would have a stronger voice on the state's many woes. In D.C., she'd be a freshman with no power, expected to toe the Democratic Party line.

She was wooed earlier to run by party officials but said no, which created the vacuum filled by prosecutor Robert Daskas, who jumped into the race in December and quit this week, citing unspecified personal family considerations.

Why not jump in earlier, when party officials came begging?

After her speech, Titus admitted the numbers and timing made a difference. The Democratic advantage in District 3 is now 23,000 more Democrats than Republicans. When she was first asked, it was a 2,000 Democratic voter advantage.

"I had just come off a brutal campaign for governor and got beat up. It didn't sound all that appealing to start that all over again." After her loss to Gibbons, she said she had a good legislative session. "I feel raring to go."

The bitter remnants left over from the governor's race works to her advantage, Titus said. "I think there's a buyer's remorse out there about the person who won the governor's race, and I think there are people out there who say: We should have voted for Dina. Now they're going to vote for her."

(Actually, I think there are Democrats who deeply regret they didn't vote for Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who didn't win the primary but probably could have defeated Gibbons.)

Registration, issues, timing, fundraising ... they're all considerations. But what about that accent?

Countless times in 2006 people said they wouldn't vote for her because of her accent. When I asked her about that seemingly silly reasoning, Titus answered: "Think I should take voice lessons?"

Actually, yes.

While it seems nonsensical to me (and I'm a Southerner who deliberately lost my accent), her voice and accent cost her votes.

However, when she took the stage to give her speech and afterward when she answered questions from the news media, Titus' strengths showed clearly. She was funny, articulate, knowledgeable and unafraid of the upcoming fight, which will be far more brutal than the governor's race.

Seconds after accusing Porter of "selling out" to drug and oil companies, Titus called for Porter to keep the race from getting personal. Speaking as if Porter were in the crowd, she said, "Let's don't get personal. I like you. I've known you for a long time. We've worked together in the Legislature. So let's just talk about the facts," she said. "But Jon Porter, you've been carrying George Bush's baggage for too long now."

Clearly, Dina Titus' fighting spirit is back.

It's in her face, in her voice, even in the way she carried herself, shoulders back, spine straight -- nothing at all like Election Night 2006.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.