Columnist Jeff German: Former Gov. Miller steps into 'juice' battle for gaming clients

In these times of bitter partisan bickering on Capitol Hill, it's refreshing to see party politics take a back seat in Nevada.

Former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller has made it easy for his Republican successor, Kenny Guinn, to take the state's reins.

Miller let Guinn and his chief of staff, Pete Ernaut, use his offices the last three weeks of his administration to prepare for this week's changing of the guard, which has been described as one of the smoothest transitions in recent memory.

Partisanship also was tossed aside when Miller signed on as a senior partner at the statewide law firm of Jones Vargas.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, a longtime Miller political adversary, and Las Vegas attorney Joe Brown, a GOP-connected lawyer who ran against Miller for lieutenant governor in 1986, both are key partners in the firm.

Jones Vargas also features John Sande, one of the more prominent lobbyists at the Nevada Legislature.

Though it's hard to imagine Miller walking the hallways of the Legislature in Carson City as a lobbyist, his hookup with Jones Vargas has to be disconcerting to rival Lionel, Sawyer & Collins, which lost out in the bidding war for his services.

One of the Lionel firm's biggest lobbying clients is the Nevada Resort Association, the political arm of the casino industry. Miller's former chief of staff, Jim Mulhall, and his top political adviser, Billy Vassiliadis, are playing major lobbying roles for the NRA this legislative session.

No one is expecting the NRA to drop Lionel, Sawyer & Collins. It still has super-lobbyist Harvey Whittemore and Las Vegas attorney Bob Faiss, the recognized expert on gaming law, in its lobbying arsenal. But there's a strong chance that some of the NRA's work in Carson City could be farmed out to Jones Vargas because of Miller's presence.

Where Lionel, Sawyer & Collins may be hurt the most by the new high-powered Jones Vargas, however, is in the never-ending battle among the "juice" firms to attract gaming clients. Miller is likely to bring in much business from the Strip to his new legal buddies.

He might even be able to steal away business from his longtime political fund-raiser, Frank Schreck, who heads the other prominent gaming law firm that tried to hire the former governor.

This will be a battle to keep an eye on, friends.

Steve Miller acknowledges that he's a long-shot in the mayor's race this year.

But as he puts it, in the age of Jesse Ventura, anything is possible in politics.

That's why Miller says he plans to go toe-to-toe with Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones for the first time since the mayor defeated him 1991.

Though he once served on the City Council, Miller is regarded as a fringe candidate at best, one who will have little backing from the politically active gaming industry.

But he could give Jones some headaches in the race, where he is expected to hit the mayor over her ongoing ethics problems, some of which he created himself.

Jones, however, may have the most to fear from former County Commissioner Jay Bingham, who has the ability to raise the kind of money to give Jones a real fight.

There's even an outside chance that City Councilman Arnie Adamsen will jump into the race. He isn't ruling out a bid.

But you can scratch another potential opponent, attorney John O'Reilly, from the race. O'Reilly says he's decided against challenging Jones.

The mayor may be popular in the city, but the fact that well-known political names continue to eye her job indicates she may be vulnerable, too. She has, after all, lost two races for governor in the past four years.

Some still believe her future in politics is in Washington.

On Capitol Hill, there's word that Vice President Al Gore may show up at a reception Wednesday night to help Nevada Sen. Harry Reid celebrate his swearing in as Democratic whip.

Reid, just re-elected to his third term in office, was named to the No. 2 leadership post among Democrats last month.

He's a close friend of Gore and is expected to back his bid for president in 2000.

The casino industry may be pleased that Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., is slated to become the House's next speaker Wednesday.

But his rise to power could be grim news to those in Nevada fighting to keep high-level nuclear waste out of the state.

Hastert has demonstrated in the past that he's an ardent supporter of sending the nation's radioactive garbage to Nevada.

archive