Quite a few people considered running against Republican Congressman Jon Porter this year and several have already said "thanks, but no thanks". They include Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus and Dr. Larry Lehrner, Shelley Berkley's husband. Some have been mentioned or professed interest and are deemed 'unlikely to run' - Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid and Henderson police chief Richard Perkins fall into this category. Then there has been talk, started by Harry Reid, about Oscar de la Hoya - who doesn't even live in the state. He's also declined.
All this shows, how fluid the situation for Democrats still is. While Porter already had $600k cash-on-hand at the end of June, Democrats are still left without a major declared candidate. Once they will find a candidate, he or she will have a real chance as Tessa Hafen has proven last year when the final result was 48.46% for Porter vs 46.57% for Hafen with less than 4,000 votes seperating the two. Hafen is not seeking a re-run and has filed a campaign termination report with the Federal Election Commission in March. So let's look at the possibilities.
Let's first start with the candidate who has already declared:
Andrew Martin - when I started writing this diary I didn't have anything against Andrew Martin's candidacy. Sure, he hasn't run before, but neither had Tessa Hafen. However, the latter had experience in politics, as Reid's press aide and connections which helped her raise money.
What might seem like a nice plus, is that Martin is openly gay - sure it would be easier for him to run in the city of Las Vegas rather than in the suburbs but I don't believe it would be a major hindrance. But electing a candidate just because he's gay? There has got to be some progressive politics as well.
And this is where I've got a problem with Martin. I did a little research and went through his first FEC report which he filed on July 13. Because he's not deemed a major candidate, no one else seems to have done that, but oh is it ever worth it.
So far Martin has raised $20k for his campaign - and none of his major contributors (only contributions above $200 have to be reported) are from Nevada, if you don't count his life partner Dana Barooshian. Martin also loaned himself a little more than $18k, presumably to get his campaign started. He has spent more than $24k thus far which leaves him with less than $15k cash-on-hand.
Now to the really interesting part. Most of the $24k spent last quarter have gone to Joseph Bifano and Patty Chernine Bifano for expenses and $16,500 for "services" (most likely consulting fees). That's an insane money to spend when you have hardly enough contributions to pay for it and have, thus far, nothing to show for it.
Now, who's Joseph Bifano? Turns out he's a lobbyist, little surprise there. As of 2003 he was chairman of the Older Americans with Disabilities Transportation Advisory Committee in Las Vegas and a registered lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of Police. All fine and good until you read this:
The committee voted 13-0 -- with four abstentions -- to recommend that the Regional Transportation Commission cancel the $10 million purchase of 10 Civis buses.
Because they're made in France. Of antiwar fame.
Committee Chairman Joseph Bifano, a former Chicago cop and registered lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of Police, says he decided to introduce the issue because of the way the French tangled with the United States on the issue of war in Iraq.
"French leader Jacques Chirac has really been bumping heads with our president," Bifano says. "He's looking down his nose at the United States."
[...]
"Maybe we have to go and say, `Listen, pal, if you don't want to talk sensibly after months and months of trying, we're going to hit you in the wallet,' " Bifano says.
Actually, it's a sensible strategy: Put a little pressure on those snail-eating, cheese-loving wine sippers and they'll probably surrender. It's worked before. To that end, Bifano says he'll appear before the Clark County Commission today to ask that any French business be terminated forthwith.
Martin, a self-proclaimed Democrat, pays for the "services" of this guy? You have got to be kidding me. With help like this he may just want to think about filing a campaign termination report asap.
Now to the two Democrats who have declared an interest in the race:
Robert Daskas - Of the possible candidates, Daskas is the closest to actually running:
Roll Call has learned that after a number of discussions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas plans to file as a House candidate with the Federal Election Commission by summer's end if not sooner - provided he sails through the final vetting stages of the DCCC's recruiting process.
"He's been in talks with the DCCC," said one Democratic source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the recruitment process. "[Daskas] is one they're focusing on at this point."
Daskas' presumptive candidacy would come after months of DCCC failures to field a high-profile challenger to Porter, who Democrats say is increasingly vulnerable in a pure swing suburban Las Vegas district. A Democratic poll from April suggests that just more than one-quarter of local voters want to re-elect Porter and about one-third "want to consider someone else."
The Garin Hart Yang survey of 405 likely voters, conducted March 13-17, had a 4.9-point margin of error.
I honestly don't know much about Daskas, so I'm keeping an open mind. That said, he still seems quite busy prosecuting, so I wonder if he would have the time to run effectively, as does Daskas himself:
A Clark County prosecutor said Thursday that he was "seriously considering" seeking the Democratic nomination in 2008 to challenge Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.
"I have not announced anything yet," said Robert Daskas, a chief deputy district attorney.
Daskas said he has been talking with state and national Democratic party officials.
"My biggest concern is timing," said Daskas, 40, who has never before sought elected office. "I need to ensure that I have sufficient time to commit to a campaign without abandoning my obligation to my cases."
Daskas is involved in several high-profile cases, including the trial of husband-and-wife professional bodybuilders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan in the slaying of their live-in assistant in Las Vegas, and the Reno trial of Darren Mack, who is accused of killing his wife and shooting the judge who was handling their divorce.
A county prosecutor since 1995, Daskas lives with his family in Henderson.
Maggie Carlton - I think she would make a superb candidate. She has the necessary experience as a member of the State Senate for eight years. She has the connections being a member of the Culinary Union Local 226 and a shop steward. Best of all, she's just a regular person - working as a waitress in a coffee-shop. You can learn more about her by reading our recent profile and by listening to an NPR profile of Maggie Carlton.
There is only one slight problem. Carlton has said that she has to concentrate on the contract talks between the casinos and the Culinary Union. Depending on the length of these negotiations she may or may not be able to run. Steve Tetreault of the LVRJ reported that Maggie Carlton has actually declined to run but I don't see where he got that information as no one else reported this and he didn't have a quote from her. My guess is he just misunderstood Carlton's statement about the contract negotiations. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
Now to the speculative, unlikely high-profile candidate:
Andre Agassi - There has been talk about an Andre Agassi candidacy in 2005. He quickly declined. There is talk about an Andre Agassi candidacy in 2007. Thus far he has not declined. That pretty much sums it up.
However, they're (the pundits and politicians) still talking about an Agassi candidacy. And he'd sure be an intriguing choice. He's likeable, he has a great family, he's been a successful tennis star and he's built a school in Vegas which is even being supported by Jon Porter.
So, why won't he run? Agassi's wife is former tennis champion Steffi Graf. Graf, though a public figure, is a rather private person. I'd be very surprised should she say yes to Agassi's candidacy. And here's where this little blog comes full circle: Graf was born in Mannheim, Germany - the exact same city I live in and where I go to school. So, in essence it would actually be quite fitting should Agassi run. I bet, my local paper here in Mannheim would report about it...
Cross posted from My Silver State - Nevada's new progressive community blog. My Silver State has been live for ten days now and we've already had several interesting posts and lively discussions in the comments. Should you be interested in Nevada politics and/or want to make Nevada more progressive you're very much welcome to come on over to My Silver State, join us, register, comment and write diaries. We're looking forward to turning Nevada more progressive, hopefully with your help. On a personal note: I've previously posted under the user name "jedinecy". To avoid any confusion I will no longer use that name and will only use the new one in the future.