'Very competitive' Guinn mixes moderate and conservative stands

Kenny Guinn remembers it like it was yesterday -- riding with his family in a Model A Ford from Arkansas to California.

His father, an illiterate farm worker, was looking for work in the San Joaquin Valley.

As his parents shuffled about the state, picking grapes, oranges and cotton during the height of the Great Depression, Guinn, a grade-schooler, was moved from school to school.

"Other parents made their children work in the fields all day," Guinn said. "My parents made sure I was always in school."

Guinn is quite the opposite today. He's Mr. Establishment, the man with the resume: interim university president, school superintendent, corporation chairman of the board. Now he wants to be governor.

"If our father were alive, he would be so proud of Kenny," Guinn's sister, Shirley Blair said.

"Kenny has always been very competitive. He was a football star in high school and people would follow him all over the San Joaquin Valley to watch him play. ... I remember when we were out in the field, Kenny and our brother Chuck were always competing to see who could pick the most cotton. Our father would say, 'Just do your best.' "

Guinn received bachelor's and master's degrees in physical education from Fresno State University and a doctorate in education administration from Utah State University.

The 62-year-old Republican has carved out a political niche for himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate.

For example, he supports abortion rights. However, he opposes late-term abortions and supports measures requiring parental notification if a minor is having an abortion.

On the other hand, unlike his opponent, he is against Nevada sanctioning gay marriages. He also says he will support the medicinal use of marijuana only if it is endorsed by the American Medical Association.

He says he does not plan to raise the state's gaming tax.

His stated justification is simple: He has to have a good reason to raise taxes on anyone.

"Something Kenny or any other governor has to be very aware of is perception. He can't be perceived as being in the pocket of the gaming industry," said Paul Laxalt, former Republican governor of Nevada and former U.S. senator.

Laxalt, who has known Guinn for more than 30 years, says he doesn't believe Guinn is seen in that way even though, according to the latest campaign-finance disclosures filed in August, his top contributors are in the gaming industry.

The report showed that 31 percent of the $3.9 million Guinn had raised had come from the gaming industry, said Mike Getto, a spokesman for the campaign.

"In Nevada that is to be expected," Laxalt said. "In Michigan you'd expect the largest contributions to come from the auto industry."

Laxalt described Guinn as a "citizen politician."

"He reminds me a lot of Ron Reagan. He is running for governor and he has never held public office before. Ron Reagan never held office, either, before he ran for governor of California."

This lack of experience could create some challenges for Guinn.

"When you are new to politics, you have to figure out who around you is in it for themselves and who has the best interests of the state at heart," Laxalt said.

While Guinn is running on the GOP ticket, he hasn't been particularly loyal to the party over the years. For example, he supported Gov. Bob Miller, a Democrat, in his last race.

"That's not particularly unusual in Nevada," Laxalt said. "Political philosophy and party affiliation are not nearly as important to people as just who the individual candidates are. I was able to get elected even though the Democrats had the Republicans outnumbered two-to-one."

Gov. Bob Miller, for his part, says, "Nevada would be in good hands with Kenny Guinn or Jan Jones."

While Miller is supporting his fellow Democrat, Jan Laverty Jones, he has nothing but good things to say about Guinn, who actively supported him in his last two bids for governor.

"Kenny is more of a behind-the-scenes player. He likes to build a consensus and then move forward," Miller said.

The former Clark County superintendent of schools is making classroom discipline a top priority.

He wants to create state boot camps for youngsters who bring weapons to school.

"We can't tolerate violence in our schools. I want to set up a system where offenders are taken out of a regular classroom setting and placed in a boot camp where they would still be able to get an education."

Former Clark County School Board member Helen Cannon said Guinn was tapped for the superintendent position at age 32 because he related well to people, worked toward a consensus and had a firm grasp of details.

"When he was superintendent, he knew what every school's roof looked like -- that's how much attention he paid to the details," she said.

Cannon said Guinn would meet with her before each School Board meeting to discuss items on the agenda.

"Sometimes we would disagree on something and we'd talk about it and I'd come around to his way of thinking. Sometimes we'd disagree and he'd take it off the agenda for more consideration."

After serving nine years as superintendent, Guinn served for nine years as president of PriMerit Savings Bank. He was chairman of the board of Southwest Gas from 1987 to 1996 and served as interim president of UNLV for one year.

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