Columnist Jeff German: Jones picks up labor support, momentum in race for governor

BEING PERCEIVED as the front-runner in a race doesn't mean you never have setbacks.

This week hasn't been very good to Republican businessman Kenny Guinn, who many regard as the favorite in the race for governor.

On Tuesday, Guinn's Democratic opponent, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, took a giant step toward closing the gap on Guinn's well-funded political machine.

Jones got the grassroots support she desperately needed to stay competitive with Guinn, when the Nevada AFL-CIO endorsed her at its convention in Las Vegas.

The endorsement seemed to energize the Jones campaign.

Guinn strategists attempted to put the best possible spin on the mayor's good fortune.

"It's not exactly a man bites dog story that labor is endorsing a Democrat," said Guinn Campaign Manager Pete Ernaut. "The bigger story is that a Democratic candidate had to sweat out an endorsement she should have had months ago."

That may be true.

But Guinn, who has been courting labor for months, had to be disheartened to see Jones land the endorsement.

"No matter how you look at it, this was a loss for Kenny Guinn," says one Jones aide.

Guinn was unable to block Jones from winning labor's support, even though the Culinary Union and the police and firefighters unions, the state's three most politically active locals, were in his corner.

After the vote, his campaign put out a statement insisting he "retains substantial support in the organized labor community."

Jones and her strategists, meanwhile, could hardly contain their glee.

Not only does the vote mean major grassroots support, but it will infuse more money into her campaign, which so far is losing the fund-raising war to Guinn. At the very least, the endorsement will bring in $100,000 in labor contributions and give Jones the ability to collect thousands more outside the AFL-CIO.

The endorsement is more significant this season because labor is mobilizing its forces. A massive drive is under way to persuade some 120,000 AFL-CIO members to go to the polls and vote for labor-backed candidates.

Though its sympathies lie with Guinn, the Culinary Union, which is playing a major role in the drive, will have no choice but to push Jones with the likes of labor's favorite son, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

So pumped up was the Jones campaign over the AFL-CIO endorsement that it released new poll results on Wednesday showing the mayor in a dead heat with Guinn. Each candidate, according to the poll, garnered 44 percent of the vote.

Even Guinn's own polling showed his lead over Jones has slipped from double digits before the Sept. 1 primary to only six points.

Guinn this week also had to worry about his backside in the Republican Party.

Aaron Russo, the Hollywood producer Guinn defeated last month, stirred things up Tuesday night at the GOP's Clark County Central Committee meeting.

Russo and his legions killed a resolution offered by Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a born-again Guinn supporter, to endorse the entire slate of Republican candidates, including Guinn.

The resolution's death raised questions about Guinn's strength within his own party.

Russo gave no indication on Wednesday that he planned to embrace Guinn in the near future. If anything, Russo has been courting Jones, who probably wants nothing to do with him.

"Until I know what Kenny Guinn stands for and his philosophy of governing the state, I can't endorse him," Russo said.

His words, however, hardly seemed to scare the Guinn campaign. Ernaut said there are no plans to reach out to the maverick Republican.

In the meantime, the high-powered Guinn team, one of the most well-organized in recent memory, continues to move forward with its gameplan.

Next Tuesday, former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., holds a huge fund-raiser for Guinn at his Washington area home.

And Guinn's 1,800 volunteers plan to hit the streets again over the weekend spreading his message.

After this week, next week probably is looking very good to Guinn.

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