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May. 02, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Titus declares she'll battle Porter in run for Congress

By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
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Dina Titus slideshow


State Sen. Dina Titus announces her candidacy Thursday for the 3rd Congressional District at the Henderson Amphitheatre. Supporters, from left, include state Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas; state Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Las Vegas; Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid; and Titus’ husband, Tom Wright.
Photo by K.M. Cannon.

In a congressional career that has been a constant battle, Rep. Jon Porter's opponents have often been unknown quantities.

Not this time.

About 250 people were on hand Thursday evening to cheer on state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, as she announced she would run for Congress. Greeting each other like old friends, many of them wore T-shirts from her past campaigns.

"We need some fresh air in Washington," Titus said from the stage of the Henderson Amphitheatre, where she was surrounded by Democratic state legislators, party activists and union members. "We need some practical solutions. We need someone who's willing to stay late, roll up their sleeves and work hard.

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    • "I promise, if you send me back there, that's exactly what I will do," she said, to cheers.

    Titus, a 57-year-old professor of political science at UNLV, has served in the state Senate for 20 years, 15 of them as the Democratic leader. The Georgia native, whose pronounced twang remains despite decades in Nevada, is known as a forceful and effective legislator who's not afraid to raise a ruckus or to make enemies.

    Because 2006 was the middle of her four-year Senate term, Titus did not have to leave the Legislature when she was the Democratic nominee for governor, a race she lost to Republican Jim Gibbons after a bruising statewide campaign. She will have to leave the Senate for this race.

    Republican incumbent Porter, 52, served with Titus in the state Senate before being elected to represent Nevada's 3rd Congressional District in 2002. A former Boulder City councilman and mayor, he is the only representative the district, created after the 2000 Census, has ever known.

    Titus began her comments Thursday by reflecting on the fifth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" declaration.

    "We cannot stand idly by while more lives are lost without a plan to withdraw and to succeed," she said. "Jon Porter has done just that and worse. He has continued to support Bush's war with no accountability, no questions and no end in sight."

    She added, "Jon, obviously you're not listening to the people of CD3. You're not helping us during these difficult times when we are struggling. You're helping people in Iraq but not here in Nevada. That's why it's time for you to go, and when that happens in November, it will be a real mission accomplished."

    Titus made note of her "deep roots" in the area, noting family ties to Henderson and the fact that her Senate district overlaps much of the congressional district. Titus herself lives just outside the congressional district.

    She painted Porter as out of touch with locals' concerns, pointing to votes she said benefited special interests and corporations rather than the middle class.

    Titus is entering the race late following the sudden withdrawal earlier this week of former prosecutor Robert Daskas, who had been the Democratic establishment's candidate. She starts at a financial disadvantage to Porter, who had more than $1 million in campaign money on hand as of March 31.

    In a sign of the political cachet Titus brings to the race that Daskas, a political newcomer, lacked, another Democrat who had been running for the seat, Andrew Martin, dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Titus at Thursday's announcement.

    Martin, an accountant who was largely funding his campaign with his own money, said he will run for state Assembly instead.

    National Democrats and Republicans are likely to invest heavily in the race, thought to be one of the most competitive in the nation this election year. Historically a closely divided swing district, the fast-growing 3rd, which incorporates mostly suburban areas of Clark County, now has nearly 23,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

    In 2006, Porter survived a challenge from Tessa Hafen, a young former staffer to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. In 2004, he faced former casino executive Tom Gallagher. Both were running for office for the first time.

    Just as she paints Porter as a right-winger and Bush loyalist, Republicans already are portraying Titus as a left-wing liberal. The National Republican Congressional Committee on Thursday issued a news release contending Titus would make it her mission to raise taxes if elected.

    "Dina Titus is out of touch with the values of Nevada, and her long liberal record speaks for itself," committee spokeswoman Julie Shutley said. "The people of Nevada's 3rd District deserve someone who will fight for them in Washington, not someone who will fall in lockstep with the Democrats' extreme agenda of higher taxes and higher spending."

    For their part, Democrats echoed Titus' arguments about Porter.

    "Instead of helping the middle class, Congressman Jon Porter consistently supports tax cuts for special interests," said Yoni Cohen, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "The 3rd Congressional District deserves a member of Congress who will fight for middle-class Nevada families, not ExxonMobil, Halliburton and the HMOs."

    Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2919.



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    John O'Neill wrote on May 03, 2008 06:49 PM: I wanna be the govonator
    I wanna be a congressmanwoman
    I anna talk so people can understand me but i've been faking this southern accent so long i cant.
    I was born and raised in South Carolina and lost my accent here in Vegas years ago. It's just her "lable".


    Whateverusaydear wrote on May 02, 2008 09:18 PM: I still remember how a certain candidate thought the idea of deporting 12 million illegals as ridiculous. I wonder if either of both candidates will perpetuate the costly (to the taxpayer) policy of doing nothing to resolve the problem.


    Ernest Worrell wrote on May 02, 2008 06:05 PM: Let's face it, they both sux. Porter has become more liberal, and I can't understand Titus. She needs a new job in politics because she can smell her job's term limit a coming.


    Genius wrote on May 02, 2008 05:39 PM: I can not vote for either candidate. Too bad Nevada doesn't have any real leaders. Titus is full of the stuff 100% of the time - a far left winger who doesn't believe in what America stands for, and Porter is just a do nothing. Both have been feeding from the public trough for far too long. Frankly, I'm sick of paying their outrageous salaries. Throw them both out and lets find some real leaders that know what the problems are and can lead the way to the solution.


    Peter T wrote on May 02, 2008 05:26 PM:
    Jon Porter has a long history of requiring American service members to go to Iraq and Afghanistan and then underfunding quality care for them when they become injured. Srtyker steel for our Humvees? Nope, he didn't help get armour our equipment and many service members died or were injured. Jon is and was a defacto member of the executive branch, using his position in the legislative branch to rubberstamp everything and disregard his required role in congress for oversight.

    You know, when the CD3 position was created in 2000, Porter didn't live in it? He moved into the district to become a candidate.

    Taxes...many items that Titus voted for were user fees and only those people who use a facility or service will pay. I prefer that method of paying for items. Many were requested for implementation by local governments.

    I think Titus brings quite a bit to the table and this begins our founding fathers wishes to have legislators removed from the national stage on a regular and frequent basis.


    Ready for Change wrote on May 02, 2008 05:23 PM: A quick note to “Not ready for That Change”: You know what happens when one assumes? I learned that maxim in Basic Training. BTW, I retired from the military in Mar’ 04 with my last assignment on the Pentagon Joint Staff. The pressure inside the Beltway to rush into this preemptive war with Iraq was ill-conceived and unprecedented, producing the tragic results we see today. Our leadership put our military into a no-win, nation-building situation and five years & one trillion dollars later what do we have to show for it? We didn’t even get cheap oil out of the deal. If that’s not a “debacle,” there are many other ruinous nouns to choose from. Oh yeah, I don’t subscribe to cable TV. Life is too short and time too precious to be misinformed by silly, slanted, sound bite TV.


    Not ready for that change wrote on May 02, 2008 04:26 PM: I am not ready for that kind of change. BTW ... debacle in Iraq?
    How would you know that? Were you there? Of course ... you get your news updates from CNN.


    Ready for Change wrote on May 02, 2008 04:02 PM: I count myself as one of the relatively new CD 3 constituents (since May 04). I was non-partisan when I got here, but I soon noticed that Rep. Porter voted in lockstep with the Tom Delay/Pres. Bush hyper-partisan machine leading to incredible budget deficits, a debacle in Iraq and a whole host of weird legislation, including the Teri Schivo mess among others. Anyway, the last straw with Porter came in ’06 when the best his campaign could do is label challenger Tessa Haffen as a carpetbagging outsider. Huh? Just five seconds with Google reveals that she and her family are life-long Nevadans; whereas, he’s from Iowa, which is frankly irrelevant, but the point is “How stupid does he think we are?”
    I say let’s give the Poli-sci professor who sounds like Minnie Pearl a chance. She’s can’t do any worse than this Bush clone, and if we don’t like her performance, out she goes in 2010.


    tim wrote on May 02, 2008 03:48 PM: when dina loses i only hope that she goes back south where her voice came from.she couldnt win gov.and she surely wont win congress.she is a liberal hack,who only knows how to tax and spend,just check her record.y,all know wit i mean?


    oldlawdawg wrote on May 02, 2008 02:48 PM: Go For It:

    Again,I am not out to attack you,and you certainly do not owe me a response. But this is a public site where people post their views because they feel they have something to say of interest to others,and response from other readers is to be expected. It's called "dialogue."

    As stated,I suspected this was all just poor selection and juxtaposition of words and phrases,but the result presented food for thought and an opportunity for comment too good to ignore. Your last response,however,is extremely curious,to say the least.

    Which was it? A "joke" - in which case you invited my observations and have no room to complain now,or "maybe just the wrong choice of words" -- in which case my observations transcend your intended meaning,and your initial comment is merely a segue to my own?

    Given your inability to determine whether your own comments were jest or error,might it be that your initial comment was akin to a "Freudian slip" wherein you inadvertently express concern about the potential for a 'darker' side of the very things you like about Dina Titus? Could it be that,while you respect her and all,you are also concerned about less 'democratic'(small "d") aspects of her 'approachability' given the enormously powerful and wealthy special interests that control so much of our state? Could it be that you privately recognize aspects of a potential Titus victory that are no "laughing" matter? You are,after all,speaking of a politician you endorse from your heart by referrence to you "laughing all the way to the bank" if she is elected,a rather odd "joke" by any measure.

    I'm certainly no shrink, but your inability to know if you were joking about something so obvbiously important to you strikes me as the same internal conflict that is destroying the Democratic Party on every level.


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