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Nevada Governor
| NEVADA |
Nov. 2,
2010 Governor |
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Plurality: 84,179 votes (11.75 percentage points). NV
Secretary of State
Notes: Gov. Jim Gibbons (R), widely unpopular, lost the Republican primary to former federal judge Brian Sandoval by a wide margin. Sandoval went on to defeat Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid (D) in the general election. Gibbons was elected in 2006 after serving five terms in Congress. Throughout his tenure he received abundant negative press coverage for his performance, but he nonethless opted to seek a second term. When the votes were tallied in the June 8 primary, Sandoval won by a more than 2 to 1 margin, obtaining 55.5% of the vote to 27.2% for Gibbons, 12.6% for former North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, and several others at less than 1-percent. Sandoval announced on Aug. 15, 2009 that he would resign as a U.S. District Court judge, and a month later said he would run for governor. President George W. Bush had appointed him to the position in March 2005, and he was confirmed and started in Oct. 2005. Previously he served in the Assembly (elected in 1994 and 1996 and resigned in 1998), as a member and chair of Nevada Gaming Commission (1998-2001), and as Nevada Attorney General (elected in 2002 and resigned in 2005). Sandoval's "record of resigning" led opponents to label him as a quitter, but he portrayed the range of experience as an asset. Reid was elected to the County Commission in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. In 2007-08 he served as Nevada chairman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. He formally launched his campaign for governor on Oct. 14, 2009. Reid won the Democratic primary with just over 70-percent of the vote. Sandoval and Reid engaged in at least three debates: Aug. 29 - focused on education, sponsored by KLSA-TV 8, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas PBS at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas (>); Oct. 7 - sponsored by the Nevada Broadcasters Association at PBS in Las Vegas (>); Oct. 26 - Great Basin College/KENV 10 debate in Elko; [not confirmed. Nevada Appeal reported the two candidates were to tape a debate in Reno on Oct. 27 to be broadcast on KRNV-TV's "Nevada Newmakers"] Per Reid campaign manager David Chase Cohen, the Reid campaign had a $6.4 million budget and a staff of 24. It put out detailed policy initiatives. However, the presence of two Reids on the ballot—U.S. Sen. Harry Reid was seeking re-election in the high-profile contest against Sharron Angle—was seen as not helpful to his prospects. Sandoval became the first Hispanic governor of Nevada. Campaign Managers: Brian Sandoval: ? Rory Reid: David Chase Cohen (May 2009) Worked on Obama's 2008 presidential campaign starting as NV state director in early 2007, then CT director, deputy national field director, and finally director of national direct mail from June-Nov. 2008. Campaign manager on Jill Derby for Congress in NV-2 (Reno), Sept. 2005-Dec. 2006. Deputy field director for the Deval Patrick Campaign (MA), Dec. 2004-Sept. 2005. In the 2004 cycle, he worked on Tom Daschle's senatorial race in South Dakota, and earlier in New Hampshire and Tennessee on Gen. Wes Clark's presidential campaign. B.A. in public policy from Brown University, 1999. See also: David McGrath Schwartz. "Brian Sandoval defeats Rory Reid in governor's race, now must govern." Las Vegas Sun, Nov. 2, 2010. Mark Z. Barabak. "Rory Reid hampered by his last name in race for governor." Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2010. J. Patrick Coolican and David McGrath Schwartz. "Gibbons portrayed as absentee governor while state in crisis." Las Vegas Sun, May 16, 2010. David McGrath Schwartz. "Sandoval portrays his job hopping as a strength in campaign for governor." Las Vegas Sun, Mar. 17, 2010. Benjamin Spillman. "Rory Reid delivers formal speech to launch campaign for governor." Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct. 14, 2009. David McGrath Schwartz. "With scant crew, Gibbons reelection campaign sets sail." Las Vegas Sun, July 19, 2009. Alex Isenstadt. "Family ties may hold Reid's son back." Politico, July 13, 2009. John L. Smith. "Gibbons' approval rating goes from bad to worse, and more trouble lurks." Las Vegas Review-Journal, Aug. 26, 2008. [column] Jennifer Steinhauer. "A Rocky Start for Nevada's New Governor." The New York Times, May 30, 2007. |
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