Titus lures education endorsements

The Nevada State Education Association endorsed Democrat Dina Titus in her run for Congress Wednesday.

So did the Nevada Faculty Alliance, through its political action committee.

Titus has been a state senator for 20 years and a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for 30 years. She commonly receives these endorsements.

The announcement also was used as an opportunity to highlight incumbent Republican Rep. Jon Porter's voting record, which the Titus campaign said shows him siding with President Bush 93 percent of the time.

"Time and again, he walked lock-step with George Bush," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, who attended the endorsement announcement for Titus. "He's the ultimate rubber-stamp Republican."

Porter, through a spokesman, wasted no time in firing back.

"Titus gets an 'F' for ensuring Nevada kids receive a quality education," said Porter spokesman Matt Leffingwell in an e-mail.

The 3rd Congressional District race is expected to be one of the hardest-fought campaigns of the year and is drawing significant resources from partisan organizations. The National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved $590,000 worth of local television ad time to air pro-Porter commercials. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to spend $916,000 on Titus' behalf.

In announcing its endorsement, Nevada State Education Association Vice President Doug Bache, a former state assemblyman, said Titus underwent a "rigorous" interview with the group. The association is an umbrella organization for Nevada teachers' unions.

Porter refused to meet with them, Bache said.

"I know Dina will maintain her strong, independent Nevada ways," Bache said.

George Brown, a UNLV history professor who works with Titus, announced the Nevada Faculty Alliance's PAC is endorsing Titus.

"This is really a choice between the very good and the bad," he said.

Porter was bashed for failing to support a variety of education initiatives that Democrats favor, such as financial aid increases and direct-lending of student loans by the government.

Titus was praised as a leader who helped reduce class sizes and increase teacher salaries. She said if elected to Congress, she would work to fully fund the federal No Child Left Behind Act and would work to bring high-tech jobs to Nevada.

Leffingwell laid the blame for Nevada's historically low high-school graduation rate at Titus' feet. He said she "failed to back education reforms and refused to support teacher accountability."

Titus, at the news conference, thanked the teachers' groups for their support.

"I am so proud," she said.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.