Wednesday, Sept. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Republican Assembly candidates Anne DiMartini and Jeff Knight are set to square off again after the Clark County Commission unanimously approved a new primary election based on errors in the Sept. 3 primary.
The election for the District 1 seat is set for Tuesday. Early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
DiMartini requested a new primary after Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson found enough polling errors to have affected Knight's six-vote margin of victory.
Ferguson told the commission that 18 errors were discovered that could have changed the outcome: 13 votes in the wrong party and five in the wrong precinct. The commission approved the election with little comment.
Knight, a 24-year-old electronic component salesman, and DiMartini, a 44-year-old real estate agent, are revving up for a one-week sprint that will focus only on Republican voters.
"Obviously there's not time to knock on every door," said DiMartini, "but we're going to work hard."
The winner will face former Assemblyman Tom Collins, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 general election.
While elections officials have come under fire for the polling errors, Collins said voters are also responsible.
"None of this probably would have had to happen," Collins said, "if the voters had known the name of their party and the number of their precinct."
Ensign rapped
You can't help but notice his two front teeth, which resemble a pair of dice, coming up snake eyes.
A caricature of Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., in the October issue of Mother Jones underscores the magazine's criticism of Ensign for feeding at the gambling trough.
Mother Jones, a crusading publication based in San Francisco, has included Ensign in a cover story targeting "Newt Gingrich and the Dirty Dozen ... 12 of the most rotten eggs now sitting in Congress."
Ensign ranks 11th.
The magazine says Ensign earned his spot for "making the country safe for the growing casino industry."
Mother Jones notes that Ensign ranked first in 1995 among House freshmen in PAC contributions and could receive 20 percent of his total amount, which has topped $1 million, from casinos.
"Ensign represents these donors well," the magazine reported. "Last year he backed an amendment to levy corporate income taxes against Indian casinos, traditionally the gaming companies' biggest rivals."
Ensign's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Bob Coffin, told the magazine's writer, Stephen Simurda, that casinos have pressured donors into freezing out his campaign.
The magazine, which notes that Coffin has 12 times less money than Ensign, rates Ensign's re-election chances as "a pretty safe bet."
Ensign said Tuesday he had seen the article and defended his support of casinos.
"I will always work to protect Nevada jobs," he said.
Dole visit
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole is set to address the public at 9 a.m. Thursday at the MGM Grand Ballroom, said Southern Nevada campaign coordinator Bryan Gresh.
Gresh said Dole will arrive by private aircraft at 8:45 tonight at McCarran International Airport. Gresh said no public events are scheduled for Dole's arrival.
Nevada has been a popular stopover during Western campaign swings. While polls show Clinton leading in Nevada, the state is considered a tossup because Republicans hold a voter registration lead of about 6,500.
Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, spoke in Las Vegas during separate visits in March.
President Clinton and Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, have also visited.
A poll listed on Politics Now, an Internet site produced by the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, ABC News and other outlets, puts Clinton ahead in Nevada by 5 percent.
Medicare cap
Democrat Spike Wilson of Reno has drawn a line in the sand against Republican opponent Jim Gibbons of Reno in their battle for Nevada's 2nd Congressional District seat.
Wilson said he opposes the 7 percent annual cap on Medicare funding proposed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and endorsed by Gibbons. Republicans have argued that their plan is necessary to save Medicare from bankruptcy.
But Wilson, an attorney and former state senator, said the proposed cap disregards the increase in patients and medical costs.
"Medicare is going to be cut as a result of that cap," he said. "It's premature to propose a cap on Medicare until the program is under control."
The 2nd district encompasses 99.8 percent of Nevada geographically, or all of the state except urban parts of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson. About 30 percent of the district's voters live in Clark County.
The only person to hold the seat, Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., is retiring after 14 years.
Food fest
The A. Philip Randolph Institute of Las Vegas will sponsor a voter registration jamboree from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday in the Magic Johnson Vons parking lot on Owens Avenue between H Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Organizers are providing free barbecue, soft drinks and music.
Congressional debates
All five candidates in each of Nevada's two congressional races have been invited to participate in hour-long debates on KLVX Channel 10 on Sept. 29.
The first debate, airing from 8 to 9 p.m., will feature candidates in the 1st Congressional District, Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Democratic challenger Bob Coffin.
Candidates running in the 2nd District, Republican Jim Gibbons and Democrat Spike Wilson, will be on from 9 to 10 p.m.
Both debates precede a nationwide broadcast, "PBS Debate Night," featuring Democratic and Republican congressional leaders.
School forum
The Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition will host a forum for Clark County School Board candidates at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 30 at the Stupak MASH Village, 1559 N. Main St. Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, will moderate.
The coalition is a group of public and private agencies providing services to homeless Southern Nevadans.
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