2012 Voter Guide: Nevada 4th Congressional District

Despite the major political parties' best efforts at carving Congress into safe districts, the race for Nevada's newest seat might come with suspense.

That's because each leading candidate has enough political baggage to make the final sprint difficult.

State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, has been the subject of pay-for-play controversies during his tenure in the Legislature and Republican Danny Tarkanian has already lost three previous campaigns and that was before he lost a $17 million judgment resulting from a bad real estate deal that undermined his image as a successful businessman.

A third candidate, Libertarian Joe Silvestri, acknowledges he has little chance to win but is hoping to heighten his party's profile by contrasting it with Democratic and Republican platforms.

Independent American Party candidate Floyd Fitzgibbons declined an interview.

So who has the best shot at becoming the first person to represent Nevada's new District 4 in Congress?

Hard to say because registration statistics that favor Democrats by more than 34,000 active voters suggest the race is Horsford's to lose but polling suggests the top two candidates are neck and neck and Tarkanian has a shot at an upset.

Horsford appears to be betting that he can use Tarkanian's tea party ties to overcome the name recognition advantage the Republican inherited from his famous father, former basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

In 2010 Tarkanian unsuccessfully battled Sharron Angle and a pack of other Republicans for conservative votes in the race for the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"My opponent says he will caucus with those members of the tea party caucus," Horsford said of Tarkanian.

The positive portion of Horsford's campaign highlights his upbringing in a in a tough part of Las Vegas and his current job as CEO of the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, a collaborative project between culinary and bartenders' unions and major resorts.

Horsford said the culinary academy experience makes him uniquely qualified to tackle big problems he would face in Congress, such as figuring out solutions to improve the dismal economy.

"We've trained and helped place thousands of people who are working in the hotel industry in Las Vegas," he said. "There are people who are working because of that partnership."

Horsford said that if elected he would support short-term proposals to invest in roads and other infrastructure because a large portion of unemployed Nevadans come from construction, architecture and engineering fields.

Over the long haul, he said more investment in education would improve the overall economy.

"In the long term, it is making sure we are investing in education so we are training and educating people in the careers of the 21st century," he said.

In addition to supporting investing in infrastructure and education, Horsford has said he supports letting tax rates increase for people making more than $250,000 and opposes drastic changes to Medicare such as the creation of a voucher system, which Tarkanian favors.

Even though Horsford is an experienced, well-funded candidate, his campaign is battling headwinds of his own making.

For example, he received widespread criticism for accepting a trip to the Bahamas from the Internet gambling company PokerStars, whose founders were later charged with processing illegal gambling transactions.

In another instance, Horsford organized a fundraiser that promised varying levels of access to state legislators depending on the amount donors contributed to campaigns. He backed out of the plan once it became public.

The baggage from Horsford's earlier missteps provides Tarkanian an outside shot at winning the race, despite baggage of his own and the sizable registration disadvantage.

To take advantage, Tarkanian is pushing his own solutions to big problems in Nevada such as widespread underwater mortgages and complicated tax and regulatory systems that he says hurt the economy.

He's also pressing hard in rural Nevada, much of which is encompassed in the new district, to pile up Republican votes to offset Horsford's advantage in Clark County where most of the voters reside, and hammering Horsford with negative hits.

"Horsford is on the complete wrong end of every issue in our district," Tarkanian said.

When it comes to discussing his own ideas, as opposed to his opponents', Tarkanian often starts with his housing proposal.

He said the fact so many people had their credit hurt by job loss and foreclosure shows it's time to rethink the evaluation process for home loans.

Tarkanian said people who have recovered from a job loss and are seeking a more affordable home should be evaluated based on their current incomes, not their having lost a home previously.

"They should be able to go in and purchase a less expensive home if their income supports the mortgage," Tarkanian said.

He also supports peeling back layers of regulations he says harm businesses.

"Regulations are getting so burdensome and cumbersome and ridiculous it is driving them out of business," he said.

When it comes to Medicare, Tarkanian said the program should remain the same for people 55 and older. Younger people, however, should have the option to accept vouchers to pay for the care of their choosing.

And on taxes he said rather than raise the rates on the highest earners, the government should take away unjustified tax breaks and loopholes.

While Tarkanian is busy pitching what he says are solutions to major problems in the district, he's also working to overcome self-inflicted wounds.

The most damaging one might be the $17 million judgment he faces as the result of a real estate deal gone bad. The judgment is under appeal, but if Tarkanian loses he probably couldn't pay it and could be forced into bankruptcy.

That scenario not only undermines his image as a businessman but could also give pause to voters who think financial problems might be a distraction.

Besides the pending judgment, Tarkanian is burdened by previous losses in campaigns for secretary of state, state Senate and U.S. Senate. The perpetual campaigning without an office to show for it threatens to give his candidacy the whiff of desperation.

While Horsford and Tarkanian fight over their flaws, Libertarian Joe Silvestri is looking to convince voters they don't need to pick a Democrat or a Republican.

"Folks should realize there is no advantage in continuing to vote for the same old, same old," Silvestri said.

He said Republicans often campaign as the party of smaller government but even when they have controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress the government has grown.

Silvestri blamed Democrats, such as President Barack Obama, for projecting a campaign image as more humane than Republicans but ultimately going along with what he considers destructive programs like the war on drugs or perpetual warfare across the globe.

"Those parties have said one thing and done another thing for decades at this point," Silvestri said.

The solution to most problems, he said, could be had by leaving the American people to make more of their own choices.

For example, Silvestri said a competitive health care system would look more like the market for consumer electronics, where technology keeps improving even as costs fall.

He proposes a similar approach for the economy, saying that if less money were sent to Washington for spending on wars, anti-drug crusades and other programs, people would have more money to spend in their own communities.

"These are all like peeling back the onion, that's where I'm going. It is a general tacking toward small government," he said.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.