Intangibles decided swing races

Heading into campaign 2010, the promise of an angry electorate wasn't nearly enough to give Republicans the assurance of competing in key Nevada races, let alone winning them.

Not when so many GOP candidates were running in districts where registered Democratic voters outnumbered registered Republicans.

Not when Democrats were building huge fundraising advantages.

And certainly not when the state Democratic Party ran an operation that was clearly superior to what was left of the disorganized Republican apparatus, from candidate recruiting to volunteer mobilization to turnout.

So it was somewhat stunning on Nov. 2 that, while the GOP's Sharron Angle was being thoroughly schooled by Sen. Harry Reid at the top of the ticket, Republican newcomers still prevailed in four local legislative races the party absolutely had to win to deny Democrats legislative supermajorities and bring political balance to Carson City in 2011.

They won despite being outnumbered in three of the races and outspent across the board. They survived a late full-court press by public employee unions, and they successfully blunted the effect of attack ads and dirty tricks dispensed by Democrats.

-- In Senate District 5, Republican Michael Roberson beat incumbent Democrat Joyce Woodhouse, 52 percent to 48 percent. Democrats held a 2 percentage-point registration advantage over Republicans, and Woodhouse outspent Roberson by more than $150,000.

-- In Senate District 9, Republican Elizabeth Halseth beat Democrat Benny Yerushalmi by 5 points. Democrats held a 3-point voter registration advantage over Republicans, and Yerushalmi outspent Halseth by an incredible $300,000.

-- In Assembly District 13, Republican Scott Hammond beat Democrat Louis DeSalvio by 8 points. Democrats held a 2-point voter registration advantage over Republicans, and DeSalvio outspent Hammond by nearly $90,000.

-- In Assembly District 21, Republican Mark Sherwood beat incumbent Democrat Ellen Spiegel by 2 points. Republicans held a 1-point voter registration advantage, but Spiegel outspent Sherwood by more than $70,000.

The so-called "Republican wave," which threw Angle into the undertow, doesn't fully explain the success of rookies with no name recognition. So how'd they pull it off?

In short, they won the intangibles. They were more disciplined, they were more organized, they were more personal, they did a better job attracting independents and they worked harder. They were all the things the Democrats were supposed to be.

"Campaigns are full of distractions," said Republican political consultant Ryan Erwin. "It's important not to get sucked into things that don't matter."

Hammond and Halseth, Erwin said, "spent every available moment focusing on something important, like knocking on doors. ... There were times that they spent eight or nine consecutive hours knocking on doors and meeting voters directly. It's grinding and exhausting for the candidate. But it's really hard to believe attacks on someone you've met face to face."

Hammond, a Las Vegas father of three who teaches and coaches girls basketball at Indian Springs High School, faced the challenge of having to spread his limited time and resources across the state's biggest Assembly district in terms of registered voters.

A solid year's worth of walking neighborhoods introduced Hammond to most of District 13. He walked with Halseth in areas that overlapped Senate District 9. And he dispatched personal friends to make contact with their friends and neighbors when he couldn't. Hammond said the support and networking of fellow Mormon Church members was critical to his primary and general election victories as well.

"I learned that in Nevada, all politics really is local," Hammond said. "People really want to meet the candidate as often as possible. So it was me knocking on their door, asking for their vote.

"It's one thing to have a stranger come to your door to ask you to vote for someone they don't really know. It's another when it's your neighbor knocking on your door asking you to vote for someone they know personally."

When it came to personal voter contacts, DeSalvio suffered a sizable disadvantage to Hammond: DeSalvio, a Laborers union official and as nice a guy as you'll ever meet, is physically imposing at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds.

"I can't tell you how many times I've had the cops called on me," DeSalvio said in September of his walks through District 13 neighborhoods.

If I had every member of my slow-pitch softball team sitting in my living room -- we're called the Beer Drinking Pigs for a reason -- I wouldn't have opened my door for DeSalvio, either.

Erwin said Hammond, Halseth, Roberson and Sherwood greatly benefited from having all or most of their legislative districts fall within the 3rd Congressional District. That enabled the GOP's Joe Heck to offer support, and vice versa. There was no duplication of effort.

"Republicans did a good job with turnout in key areas -- not across the state, but in key areas," Erwin said.

"They really checked their egos at the door and accepted help from allies and the party.

"That doesn't always happen."

Which gives local Republicans, on life support and receiving last rites only two years ago, even more confidence about their prospects in 2012.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.