Titus starts TV effort

WASHINGTON -- Democrat Dina Titus began airing her first TV commercial Thursday in her bid for Congress, a folksy ad that seeks to reintroduce the longtime public figure to Southern Nevada voters.

Sitting at a kitchen table with her mother, Betty, Titus jokingly calls attention to perhaps her most striking feature: the pronounced Georgia accent she has kept even after 30 years in Nevada.

"What accent?" Betty Titus said in a similarly drawled punch line.

The TV ad was to start airing Thursday evening on Las Vegas network channels.

The Titus campaign declined to say how long it would air or what it cost.

The 30-second commercial mentions Titus' support for renewable energy and her role in capping Nevada property taxes as a state senator.

Betty Titus brags up her daughter, that she skipped the 12th grade and "was always very determined."

Titus, a UNLV government professor and a state senator since 1988, seeks to unseat Republican Rep. Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Henderson, Laughlin, Boulder City a part of Summerlin and unincorporated parts of Clark County east of the metropolitan area.

Porter began airing his first television ad earlier this week.

Both national parties have committed thousands of dollars for television ads to supplement spending by the local candidates.

Titus has not been long out of the public eye. She ran for governor in 2006, surviving a Democratic primary against Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson but losing to Republican Jim Gibbons in the general election.

Titus campaign spokesman Andrew Stoddard said the aim of the new TV spot was to introduce the candidate to voters in one of the fastest-growing districts in the country. More than 200,000 people are expected to have moved into the area since the previous election.

"This being the first commercial, it is important to make sure all the voters know Dina and know some of her accomplishments," he said.

Also, Titus hopes the ad can defuse her Southern accent as a potential stumbling block for voters.

"Certainly if it has that effect, that would be a positive aspect," Stoddard said.

Titus boosters in 2006 said voter focus on her accent would be silly, but Republicans said their polling in the governor's race showed it was an issue they could exploit.

That was the focus of Porter's reaction Thursday to the Titus commercial.

"It sounds like she is running for mayor of Macon (Georgia), not for Congress," Porter spokesman Matt Leffingwell said, adding the commercial "was void of any real issues."

He questioned Titus calling attention to her drawl.

"I think Nevadans are worried about keeping their homes, how they will afford to put gas in their cars and whether they will have a job next week, not how silly someone's accent is," Leffingwell said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.