PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
Eric and Midge Redli, right, waited in line at Dilworth Middle School to be admitted to their Republican precinct meeting.
Joni Wines 1926-2012 Four days before the 32nd anniversary of her recall from office, former Nye County sheriff Joni Wines died at Lake Tahoe. Wines became sheriff at a time when corruption and an old boy’s network reportedly ruled the county. Women seeking changes drew Wines, a grandmother, into the race for sheriff, and she was elected in an upset over incumbent Jay Howard in 1978. Though not the first woman sheriff in the state, she was the first elected woman sheriff. But as so frequently happens in small county corruption cases, the resulting turmoil alienated the public, and soon Wines was facing a recall petition. (Earlier, Lyon County District Attorney John Giomi, who reported a bribe attempt by Joe Conforte, had been defeated for reelection.) Wines’ tenure became ensnarled with a rivalry between established brothel owner Bill Martin and a new and more successful brothel owned by Walter Plankinton. In June 1978, Martin paid arsonists to burn down Plankinton’s Chicken Ranch brothel and was later murdered himself. The brothel battle proved irresistible to out-of-state reporters, resulting in wide publicity of the Nye County turbulence, which exacerbated the sheriff’s political problems. After her recall by a 1,228 to 979 vote in February 1980, she and her husband left town in the dead of night. U.S. Justice Department investigators pursued the corruption investigation and achieved some convictions, but the biggest targets were never indicted. Wines later ran unsuccessfully for governor and the U.S. House and was appointed to the Nevada Ethics Commission by Gov. Bob Miller. The saga became the subject of Jeanie Kasindorf’s book The Nye County Brothel Wars/A Tale of the New West, described by a New York Times critic as “splendid … a taut account of a chain of vicious acts perpetrated by a group of toughs,” and of the fictionalized 1981 CBS movie Incident at Crestridge, which starred Eileen Brennan as Wines. Wines was 85 when she died at Lake Tahoe.
Taking aim At least one Nevada liberal group is assuming Mitt Romney is going to be the GOP presidential nominee. Either that, or they are trying to soften him up in the state to help Barack Obama get a weaker Republican opponent—the strategy Obama’s campaign keeps pushing. Progress Now Nevada put up an anti-Romney website tailored to Nevada—specifically, to home foreclosures (Nevada has the highest rate) and Romney’s record on the issue, along with a few other economic matters. It can be found at http://forecloseromney.com.
Deja vu State legislators and the governor are not the only officials that failed to finish their reapportionment work. At the University of Nevada, Reno, the Sagebrush reports that the reapportionment of the student Senate has gone undone. Reapportionment is easier at this level because, unlike the Legislature, no geographic districts are required. Senate seats are apportioned one to a college and then by number of students after that, so that the college of business administration, for example, has one automatic seat and two seats representing its “population.” Like the state’s legislative and U.S. House seats, the UNR dispute involves friction between executive and legislative branches. According to former student Sen. Sean McDonald, the last couple of student body presidents have failed to submit reapportionment plans to the Senate. And, as in the case of the state, judges—in this case, justices of the student judicial council—are considering stepping in and doing the job.
Trump trumps Romney Billionaire Donald Trump has taken credit for Mitt Romney’s Nevada caucus victory, though he claim’s it’s unidentified others who credit him. “And a lot of people are giving me credit for that and I will accept that credit,” Trump told Fox News. It’s the second time Romney won the Nevada caucuses. Trump did not explain how Romney won without him in 2008.
—Dennis Myers 8
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FEBRUARY 9, 2012
Long lines The West is heard from in the GOP “You must have a government-issued photo I.D.,” Tom Dickman said at Sparks Republican caucuses held at Dilworth by Dennis Myers Middle School. “A Costco card will not work [laughter]. No one can vouch for anyone.” This is a relatively new ritual. For most of the past 150 years of statehood, no one needed identification to attend a Republican—or Democratic—caucus. No one, after all, would try to crash a precinct caucus. The real problem was getting people to attend at all.
“He’s created jobs. Nobody in Washington creates jobs.” Eric Redli Romney supporter But that was before Republican leaders developed the technique of preventing low income people who don’t have identification and would probably vote Democratic from voting in real elections. And the GOP caucuses must now set the example. Most of the people attending the caucuses at Dilworth Middle School in Sparks never heard Dickman’s remarks. He was speaking in the front hallway, which held only a few dozen people. Most of the participants were outside standing in a long line. This school has a footnote role in Republican history. In the early 1960s, GOP strategist Karl Rove attended seventh, eighth and ninth grades at what was then Dilworth Junior High School. Rove might not have felt comfortable at these caucuses because
so many of the participants wanted a candidate who could appeal to the moderates Rove did so much to drive out of the party. An ABC News survey of Nevada caucus-goers indicated that the quality they cited most in a candidate was an ability to defeat Barack Obama. Among the 44 percent of caucus participants who felt that way, 74 percent voted for Mitt Romney. Eric Redli, who is retired from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department, attended the Dilworth caucus with his wife Midge. He went to his first caucus four years ago. “The first time, I was curious to see what the process is,” he said. This year, he and his wife attended to support Romney. “Mitt Romney’s got the tools, the moral character, the core values to get us out of this mess, and being a CEO of companies and so on, he knows what to do,” Redli said. “He’s run companies for 25-plus years, he’s created jobs—and that’s the biggest issue. He’s created jobs. Nobody in Washington creates jobs.” Romney and Ron Paul had volunteers at the site from out of state to distribute literature and give sales pitches, which freed their in-state supporters to attend their caucuses. “Well, you know, we got to get the constitutional message out for Ron Paul,” said Paul backer Scott Macintosh of Pacifica, Calif. “We’re out here to put the flyers out and give people free information. We got a super flyer here, a lot of info about Ron Paul, the only veteran in the race. You know, things like that, that people ... well, might not get from the mainstream media.” Helen Sealey, a local resident, was working for Gingrich, who was run-
ning on a shoestring in Nevada and had no money to bus volunteers in. She caucused after proselytizing for her candidate. “I just really think he’s the guy to put us on the right track,” she said. “I really like him. I heard him talk. I’m totally convinced.” There was some sentiment for a presidential primary election at Dilworth. According to our interviews of participants, those who want a presidential primary are those who attend the caucuses only in presidential years, suggesting they are less interested in the Republican Party organization. (Caucuses are held for party business in every even-numbered year.) Those who attend caucuses in non-presidential years tended to be happy with the existing system. The special election held in 2001 to fill a vacant U.S. House seat in the Northern Nevada district cost $536,000. The secretary of state’s office is trying to work up an estimate for a statewide presidential primary. Secretary of State Ross Miller said he expects it will come in somewhere around $1-2 million. One man at Dilworth wore a white T-shirt that read in part, “We the people want a real American President…” Just italics were not enough—italics and underlining were combined. What was most interesting about the Dilworth caucus-goers was that the participants had virtually no interest in the matters that so occupied journalists. They didn’t care whether Nevada made a splash nationally, whether advertising money helps the state economy, or even whether the candidates visited Nevada personally. They treated the caucuses as earnestly as an Election Day, as a step in choosing a president, and they took the role seriously. Each vote was cast as though it would determine the nomination.
The long count
Romney finished slightly lower statewide than in 2008, 50.1 percent compared to his earlier 51.1 percent showing, though he had fewer opponents to split up the vote this time around. And he had essentially the same dynamic as in 2008—only one active opponent, Paul. Gingrich and Santorum tried to slap together late Nevada efforts, but Santorum spent only $12,000 on cable-only television advertising. Gingrich spent nothing. Romney spent $371,000. Personal appearances were the main sign of Gingrich and Santorum campaigns. (Among Mormon voters, who made up 26 percent of the GOP caucusgoers, Romney received 91 percent compared to 95 percent in 2008.)
