David Damore

From left:Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas), state Sen. Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas), state Sen. Joe Heck (R-Henderson).LAS VEGAS - Perhaps the biggest irony of Gov. Jim Gibbons' call for a special session of the legislature June 23 is that he could potentially be providing a golden opportunity for the politician who could defeat him in 2010.

Three state legislators, Assembly Speaker Barbara (D-Las Vegas) and state Sens. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) and Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas), are rumored to be interested in Gibbons' job, and any one of them could use the session to strike a first blow in an eventual campaign against him.

Taking into account his "no solutions are off the table" pledge and short of Gibbons shooting the moon politically, here is what we can expect to see next week from the looming gubernatorial contest.

From left, SD-5 candidate Shirley Breeden, Greg Esposito, and AD-21 candidate Ellen Spiegel in Henderson last week.: Although most of the Democratic establishment is staying positive about Breeden's candidacy, the NSEA's endorsment of her opponent last week is a troubling sign. Politicker Photo.LAS VEGAS-Months ago, intent on retaking the state senate, Nevada Democrats cast their sights on Senate District 5 as one of two key targets. But hopes of capturing the seat may be fading as their candidate, a self-described "political unknown," has failed to win the endorsement of one of the pillars of the state Democratic establishment, the Nevada State Education Association.

And the endorsement of incumbent state Sen. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) by the state's teachers' union is just the latest in a series of missed opportunities for state Democrats that have led some Democratic operatives to believe their candidate, Shirley Breeden, is unlikely to defeat Heck.

LAS VEGAS-Nevada Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus said today that she has not committed to running against Republican Congressman Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District, but that she is "giving it very serious consideration."

Titus' comments followed a surprise announcement this morning that former Clark County chief deputy district attorney Robert Daskas was ending his bid in CD3, citing "family considerations."

Titus said she has been communicating "quite intensely" for days with both local and Washington Democrats about the race, but that she hadn't wanted to discuss it with reporters until Daskas announced his withdrawal.

"It's a big, life-changing decision," said Titus.

LAS VEGAS-Nevada's congressional delegation may be small, but it is energetic in bringing home the bacon to a cash-strapped state with a lot of needs. But critics are quick to label the programs that legislators steer towards their constituents as "pork projects."

According to the Citizens Against Government Waste 2008 Congressional Pig Book, Nevada's delegation has brought $158,779,895 worth of pork-barrel spending to the state in the 2008 fiscal year, fifteenth highest according to the per capita rankings.

According to the CAGW, Sen. Harry Reid leads the delegation with $259.5 million dollars in "wasteful spending." Next comes Sen. John Ensign with $92.5 million, Rep. Shelley Berkley with $46.7 million, Rep. Dean Heller with $31.8 and finally Rep. Jon Porter with $19 million. Much of that money, particularly in Reid's case, however, goes to defense or other spending that is not necessarily directed at Nevada.

Republican Congressman Dean HellerLas Vegas- Although the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries are still far from over, results from those races may be pointing to a tougher-than-expected reelection campaign for Congressman Dean Heller (R-NV) in the largely rural 2nd Congressional District.

The trouble for Heller, several observers believe, would come from the combination of a win in the Democratic primary for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and a lingering disaffection among Nevada Republicans over the loss of former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney in the GOP primaries.

“In Congressional District 2, most of the counties went to Barack Obama [in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses],” said Steve Platt, chairman of the Carson City Democratic Party.  “He was able to pull independents and Republicans in a pretty conservative congressional district to his side.”

By this time next week, the Nevada caucuses will be over and the state, for better or worse, will have left its impression on the presidential nomination process.  In the mean time, the state is abuzz with unprecedented campaign activity and media attention.  In what follows are some observations about what has occurred to date and what is likely to occur between now and the 19th.

Nevada as the Saucer:

The post-reform presidential nomination process has been characterized by the Iowa caucus followed a few weeks later by the New Hampshire primary.  The gap between these two contests provided time for the media and voters to put the results of Iowa in perspective and gave candidates the opportunity to reevaluate their messages and strategies before testing their mettle again.  Not so in 2008.  Because of the desire of more states to have an earlier say in the process, New Hampshire moved its primary up five days after Iowa; providing little chance for meaningful reflection between the contests with the end result being a media narrative run amok. 

The Culinary Workers Local 226 represents more than 60,000 Nevada workers.UNITE HERE, the national union affiliate of Nevada’s largest labor union, the Culinary Workers Local 226, announced its endorsement of Ill. Sen. Barack Obama for president of the United States today. The announcement ends weeks of speculation about which Democratic contender the Culinary Union would back and could represent the boost Obama needs to pull out a win in the Democrats’ third nominating contest Jan. 19.

"Barack Obama began his career organizing working families who were trying to pick up their lives as their industries were leaving them behind. As he entered politics, we knew that he would understand our members and we supported him from the start," said UNITE HERE’s General President Bruce Raynor. "Our organization and our members will do everything in our power to see that he reaches the White House this fall, because we know he will bring working Americans with him."

The Las Vegas Review Journal, founded in 1909, has a daily circulation over 170,000Every four years, presidential candidates of both parties eagerly seek the endorsements of the Manchester Union Leader and the Des Moines Register as the two largest publications in crucial early-voting states.  These endorsements, which provide little in the way of actual votes but are invaluable for the positive press coverage, can drastically alter the makeup of a race, bringing lower-tier candidates to the fore and reminding voters that poll numbers don’t decide elections.  With Nevada suddenly thrust into the spotlight and seeking to emulate the Iowa caucuses, the question then is: Will the Las Vegas Review-Journal follow the lead of these other early-state newspapers?

“That is something that is still under discussion at this point,” said John Kerr, editorial page editor of the R-J, Wednesday.  “In the past, in many races we have not endorsed in the primaries, whether it’s presidential races or local.”

In an unusual primary move, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign held a conference call for Nevada reporters with Va. Gov. Tim Kaine today, in which Kaine announced the creation of a 600-member group of “Nevada Republicans for Obama.” 

The call, intended to highlight Obama’s cross-party appeal and general electability, was considered strange by some Nevada political analysts and immediately drew comment from N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Nevada campaign chair, Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid.

“As a governor of a ‘red state,’” said Kaine, “I know the thinking of independent voters and I know the thinking of moderate Republican voters.  I could tell, as I looked at the field of candidates running for president in 2008, that that core of voters who are so critical in Virginia and, frankly, in most states would be very open to a Barack Obama candidacy.”

Las Vegas accountant Andrew Martin to face Robert Daskas in 3rd CD Democratic primary.Andrew Martin has to be wondering if he did something wrong.  Despite announcing his congressional bid months ago, assembling a campaign staff and self-financing an early campaign war chest, the Las Vegas accountant and Florida transplant has had to sit back and watch as both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the state Democratic establishment have swung in line behind Robert Daskas as their candidate of choice to face Congressman Jon Porter next November.

Such a show of support in a contested primary is unusual, particularly for the DCCC, whose chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Monday that Daskas represents the “change” that “the people in the district are looking for.”

“I’m not that concerned about it,” Martin said Monday about Daskas’ big name support.  “I believe once they learn more about my candidacy, they might come around.”