Pair go separate ways in election

CARSON CITY -- If you look at their voting records, there is not a dime's bit of difference between Assembly Democrats Kathy McClain and Mark Manendo.

Legislative records show they voted the same way on 658 of the 662 bills considered during the 2009 legislative session.

Each supported bills that raised taxes by $1 billion and voted to override every bill vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons that was returned to the Assembly.

Their districts even lie next to each other in the Las Vegas Valley.

They have been allies any way you define the word. But things can change quickly in the world of politics.

Forced out of office because of term limits, they now are competitors, vying for the same state Senate seat, District 7.

But how do two candidates campaign against each other when their stands on the issues are so close?

They try something else.

For Manendo, it's bringing attention to McClain's violation of campaign finance laws.

For McClain, it is hoping voters find out about the old sexual harassment allegations against Manendo that some say have kept him out of Assembly leadership positions.

Their race is historic.

The term limits constitutional amendment, approved by voters in 1998, finally has gone into effect this year. Legislators can no longer serve more than 12 years in each legislative house.

But the law doesn't prevent Assembly members or state senators from running for a seat in the other house.

That Manendo and McClain are mirror images when it comes to pushing the voting buttons has posed a real dilemma for them as they tangle for the Democratic nomination in the June 8 primary election.

Each must find something to show voters that he or she stands out and is the better choice when the reality is both are true blue Democrats.

Manendo has gone on the offensive, making sure voters know about Secretary of State Ross Miller's April 16 decision that McClain violated civil campaign laws by using $7,276 in surplus campaign contributions to pay for her personal retirement costs during last year's Legislature.

Until her retirement in January, McClain had been a Clark County government employee who took unpaid leaves of absence while serving in the Legislature.

She figured the pension costs were a legitimate expense related to her office and that campaign contributions could be used to cover them.

McClain even reported on her campaign expenditure reports that she used campaign money to cover her Public Employees Retirement System costs in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Miller ruled she did not commit a willful legal violation, but still decided she had to seek a return of the money from PERS and pay $7,276 to a women's domestic violence program in Las Vegas.

Manendo has rushed to capitalize on Miller's opinion.

"Just because she disclosed what she did doesn't make it legal," he said. "The bottom line is she violated the law. She used campaign money for a personal use. I don't know too many people who would think that was a proper use. I know she takes a financial loss serving in the Legislature, but so do all of us."

If she thought she was doing something unlawful, then McClain, who is 65, said she never would have reported the expense on her campaign contribution reports.

"I thought it was an expense related to the office," she said. "I wouldn't have had the expense if I had not been serving in the Legislature in Carson City."

McClain's strategy to gain an advantage over Manendo has been to tout her Assembly leadership, chairing the Taxation Committee and leading an interim committee that reviews concerns of veterans and senior citizens.

Manendo, in contrast, has not chaired an Assembly committee since 2003.

"Nothing will be said by me about Mr. Manendo's missteps," McClain said. "He votes with our caucus 99 percent of the time and so do I. I have been in leadership."

While she insists she won't make it an issue, McClain hopes someone tells voters why Manendo no longer chairs any committees.

In 2003, Manendo was accused by then Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, of sexually harassing her two volunteer female interns.

Although Manendo contended he never did anything inappropriate and was not disciplined, he was stripped of the chairmanship of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee following that session.

Since then, Assembly speakers Richard Perkins and Barbara Buckley never have appointed him to chair a committee, despite his serving eight terms in the Assembly.

"I said if I said or did anything that they misunderstood, or if I made in­appropriate remarks, then I apologize," Manendo said. "But I couldn't think of anything. It was a 'he said, she said' kind of thing."

Manendo, 43, contended his not serving as a chairman isn't a cause for voters' concern since "everyone plays a role in the legislative process."

He said he has the endorsement of the Veterans in Politics groups, despite McClain's chairing a veterans committee, and that he co-sponsored the bill that led to creation of the state veterans home in Boulder City.

While a long shot in a district with a 2-to-1 Democrat registration advantage, Republican Patricia Marsh said McClain's campaign contribution violation and Manendo's sexual harassment allegation are good reasons for voters to distance themselves from both Democrats and vote for her.

Even more importantly, Marsh contended that Manendo and McClain are abusing what voters thought was the intention of term limits: to prevent people from serving more than 12 years in the Legislature.

"They are career politicians," said Marsh, who believes people thought they were limiting legislators to 12 total years in the Legislature, not 12 years in one house and then 12 in the other.

McClain has represented Assembly District 15 since the 1998 election, while Manendo has represented the adjoining District 18 since 1994.

Their Assembly districts are part of sprawling state Senate District 7, which includes the Strip, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and more of metro­politan Clark County east of Interstate 15.

Democratic state Sen. Terry Care, who also is term limited, now holds the seat that they seek.

Although Manendo has supported tax increases as much as his Democratic colleague, he takes more of a wait-and-see approach than McClain on whether he will support tax increases in 2011 to fill what has been projected by some as a $3.5 billion state budget hole.

"I don't believe we can fill the entire hole," he said. "All you have to do is drive around to see the mom and pop businesses are dying. Sales taxes hurt the poor. A lot of people are upset about the DMV (car registration tax increase) we passed. We have to look at everything."

Manendo said legislators should consider taxing services that now are not taxed, but emphasized no taxes should be imposed on haircuts. They also need to ensure that huge businesses such as Wal-Mart pay their fair share of taxes.

McClain said she isn't going to lie to voters and say taxes won't be increased in 2011.

The Legislature could impose sales taxes on services that are not now taxed, such as haircuts, car repairs, legal and advertising fees, she said.

Haircuts today often are just $10, so a sales tax on one isn't going to break someone, according to McClain. And if someone can afford a $100 haircut, then they can afford the sales tax on it, she added.

If services are taxed, then McClain said the overall sales tax rate might be reduced.

"We need to fix our revenue structure," she said, contending she talks straight on taxes with citizens and businesses. "A sales tax on service is long overdue."

Either legislators fix the "revenue picture," or they will say goodbye to ever properly funding public education in Nevada, McClain said.

"We cannot say we can cut here and cut there," added McClain, pointing out 92 percent of state spending goes to education, health and human services and prisons. "There isn't much left to cut."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.