Kenny Guinn at 73

Kenny Guinn loved the minutiae. Ask him a question about a single line-item in the multimillion-dollar state budget and he could respond with such precision and detail that you'd think he'd done his doctoral dissertation on precisely that subject.

He was not a political animal. Yet after decades of having served in a number of capacities -- from superintendent of the Clark County School District to CEO of Southwest Gas -- Mr. Guinn decided to run for governor in 1998, a campaign chronicled in political observer Jon Ralston's book, "The Anointed One."

Mr. Ralston argued that Mr. Guinn was hand-picked by the powerful casino industry with the help of the "behind-the-scenes string-pulling of a powerful and ruthless cabal of political insiders." The "shaky" and inexperienced Republican candidate defeated Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones with 52 percent of the vote. He went on to win re-election four years later with 68 percent support.

Mr. Guinn, 73, died suddenly of a heart attack Thursday at his Las Vegas home.

If Mr. Guinn's election was preordained, his tenure was anything but uneventful. A man who eagerly sought compromise with those across the aisle, Mr. Guinn presided over the largest tax hike in state history when he shepherded his $1 billion package through the Legislature in 2003. That, along with the state's Millennium Scholarship program -- which rewards Nevada high school students who achieve a certain grade standard with up to $10,000 in aid at a state university or community college -- were his signature achievements.

Mr. Guinn was an affable and friendly man, his big smile contagious. Born in Arkansas in 1936, he spent 40 years in Nevada and truly loved and cared for the state. "He made his decisions based upon what he thought needed to be done," former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller told the Review-Journal's John L. Smith. "He was elected as a Republican, but he governed as a Nevadan."