Sandoval focuses on governing but keeps future options open

When Gov. Brian Sandoval popped up in Iraq and Afghanistan last week for a visit with troops, he made Nevada headlines and newscasts, conducting long-distance interviews from the war zones.

A couple of weeks earlier, he had jumped behind the wheel of a Toyota Prius to become the first governor in the nation to try out robot-car technology Google Inc. is testing in the state. The press was there to snap his picture as Sandoval let a computer drive him around the Carson City capital.

Other than the odd pre-fab photo opportunity and the Pentagon-paid trip to the Middle East, the governor has kept a fairly low local profile since the Legislature ended in early June.

He has done the usual public glad-handing such as speaking at rural Fernley High School's graduation and celebrating the Fourth of July in Boulder City, a traditional stop for politicians who get a bit wet as Southern Nevadans engage in a big water fight. And he has done the people's business, sitting on boards and commissions dealing with everything from prison pardons to economic development.

Sandoval also traveled out of state five times this summer, mostly for official visits but also for politics, including a Republican Party fundraiser in Florida, a key state for any politician with a national future.

Seven months into his four-year term, Nevada's first Hispanic governor seems more comfortable working behind his desk and behind the scenes than grabbing the spotlight at home, even as he is garnering attention nationwide as a Latino leader to watch.

"We're now down to the nuts and bolts of governing," said Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval's senior adviser who shares the governor's low-key demeanor. "The governor started campaigning in September of '09 and has not taken a vacation since that time. We have been very busy. ... Our plan is to give the first family a vacation in August before the kids have to go back to school."

NOT HIS LAST STOP

So far, Sandoval is setting a work-a-day governing style that has made him a tough target for critics at home and has gained him praise from Republicans inside Nevada and outside the state.

"He is among the most ambitious governors we've had, or at least the people who are promoting him are ambitious," said Nevada historian Guy Rocha, who has tracked state leaders for decades. "It's early. He's still unfolding, but he is being groomed for higher office. This is not his last stop."

Sandoval, who turned 48 on Friday, has insisted he plans to finish out his full term even as speculation swirls that the former federal judge, attorney general, Nevada gaming commissioner and state assemblyman could be tapped as a GOP vice presidential running mate in 2012.

Most sharp political observers, however, believe it's more likely that Sandoval will run for re-election in 2014 if he succeeds in the job and then he'll be in a prime position to seek higher office as soon as 2016, either as a U.S. Senate candidate or on a GOP presidential ticket.

That year, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will face a decision to retire at age 76 or run for re-election to a sixth term, which would tie the state record for the longest-serving U.S. senator.

Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the Cook Political Report, said Sandoval seems to be governing like he campaigned, with little fanfare and without attacking his political opponents. And he appears to be carefully building a resume and a record of accomplishment that could serve him well.

"I think he's one of these people who's going to manage expectations," Duffy said. "He's going to try and do his job as well as he can. And he's going to try to not get sucked under the political stuff, much like he was as a candidate. It's not a bad way of governing."

CHANGE IN STYLE

In 2010, Sandoval easily beat Democrat Rory Reid, the senator's son, after defeating Jim Gibbons, the sitting governor, in the GOP primary. The unpopular Gibbons went through a messy divorce while in office and didn't seem happy in the job, often disappearing without telling his staff where he was.

"Jim Gibbons wanted to be governor, but he didn't really want to govern," Rocha said, calling him the most inaccessible state leader. "He just liked the title, and he left a lot to his staff to do."

The stark contrast between Gibbons and Sandoval was apparent during the four-month legislative session. Both opposed raising taxes during hard economic times and moved to cut spending. Yet Sandoval didn't pick fights with Democrats who controlled the state Senate and Assembly.

Instead, after a Nevada Supreme Court decision blew a hole in Sandoval's budget by questioning the state's practice of usurping local and other funds for state spending, the governor agreed to extend a $600 million tax package for two years to balance the $6.2 billion budget.

The governor angered some conservatives who said he broke his campaign promise not to raise taxes. And education and social services advocates disagreed with spending cuts. Yet Sandoval came out of the session looking like a leader who bridged vast differences to reach a deal.

Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, one of the most active advocacy groups in the state, said Sandoval will not do well in the organization's upcoming report card.

"We are disappointed in Sandoval because of his decision to veto so many of our bills," Gilbert said. "I can guarantee you his grade is not going to be good."

As an example, Gilbert cited the governor's veto of a bill that would have required certain public and charter schools to give free breakfasts to children.

Sandoval said the law allows local school boards and charter school leaders to offer such programs, and he wanted to leave it to local control.

Gilbert said minorities and the poor are being hurt most by Sandoval's austerity policies.

"They're being disproportionally affected," she said. "He can go to Iraq and Afghanistan looking for national attention, but I wish the wars would just stop. It's such a waste of money and lives."

Sandoval was among four governors invited by the Department of Defense to visit Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Pentagon's outreach to state leaders in charge of National Guard troops.

"It's quite impressive, the courage and the fortitude of the men and women in the armed forces," Sandoval said, speaking through some long-distance static. "People can be very proud."

Gibbons and the late Gov. Kenny Guinn also visited the war zones as governors.

In another out-of-state trip closer to home, Sandoval in July traveled to Washington state, where the USS Nevada nuclear submarine is based. He was invited by the Reno Navy League.

RISING STAR

At the end of last month, Sandoval attended a dinner for the Republican Party of Seminole County in Florida. He was hailed as "a rising Republican star" with a "commitment to business and conservative issues." The price ranged from $150 for an individual ticket to $3,500 to buy a table for 10 guests, entry into a VIP reception for them and to have a corporate logo displayed.

The governor's adviser Erquiaga said Sandoval was invited by the chairman of the group, who does business in Nevada.

In Reno, Sandoval also helped the Washoe County Republican Party raise more than $30,000 at a July 27 fundraiser, delivering his review of the Legislature. Most GOP lawmakers attended.

In June, Sandoval attended the Republican Governors Association meeting in Aspen, Colo. He and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the first Latina governor in the nation, were held up as examples of inroads Republicans have made with Hispanics, who more often favor Democrats.

Sandoval's other under-the-radar trip outside Nevada was to Utah, which is held up as one of the best examples of economic development by a state. In July, he met with Utah Gov. Gray Herbert, who also went to Iraq and Afghanistan with Sandoval and the leaders of Tennessee and Kentucky.

"He went to see how Utah built the economic development model," Erquiaga said.

In at least one case, Sandoval's low-key style shielded the people he met from the harsh public glare in the midst of disaster. When a gravel truck slammed into an Amtrak passenger train in Northern Nevada on June 24, the governor went to Fallon within hours to meet with survivors taken to an elementary school. Five passengers and the truck driver died in the railroad crossing accident.

Some governors would have invited reporters and cameras along or distributed photos, while Sandoval's office sent out a simple statement after he had returned.

"Our hearts go out to the victims and their families," he said, adding that his wife "Kathleen and I will keep them in our thoughts and prayers."

"He did the right thing for the families and the survivors" in many people's eyes, Duffy said. "I've watched other governors do the same thing, and it serves them well."

ECONOMY AND SCHOOLS

Sandoval's main focus this summer has been on economic development, finding ways to diversify Nevada beyond the casino and tourism industries, according to Erquiaga. He also needs to ease persistent unemployment, now more than 12 percent thanks to a construction bust.

The governor has been meeting with CEOs, urging companies to expand or relocate to Nevada, Erquiaga said. They might be lured by a new $10 million "catalyst fund."

Sandoval will attend two groundbreakings in Northern Nevada in August, he added, without revealing details.

Sandoval's other summer focus has been firing up education reforms he won in his first legislative session.

He is engaged in strategic planning for the university system and ensuring a newly required, five-year improvement plan is put together for schools to boost poor student performance.

The governor also is preparing to appoint the new superintendent of public instruction in early 2012 for the first time after the current chief, Keith Rheault, retires.

The superintendent has long been selected by the state Board of Education, but from now on the governor will do the hiring.

Sandoval also will have much more power over school policy once the 10-member elected Board of Education is replaced with a seven-member panel under legislation he got approved.

Under the new law, he will appoint three members with recommendations from Senate and Assembly leaders. The other four will be elected from each of the state's congressional districts.

Whatever Sandoval's style, he is staking the success or failure of his term on improving education and the economy at a time when Nevada wallows at the bottom of the barrel in both categories.

"He thinks he can turn this state's economy around, said Rocha, the historian and former Nevada archivist. "It's going to be a hell of a challenge. This thing is so much bigger than him as governor."

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.