Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 9:14 a.m.
CARSON CITY - Nevada's issues are overlooked in national elections, supporters of a Western states' presidential primary say.
A $1.4 million plan to hold an earlier primary with several other Western states would give Nevada more political clout, the bill's authors added Tuesday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
SB548 matches a plan by Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, shelved earlier this session in the Democrat-controlled state Assembly. The new bill was authored by Hettrick, Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, and 10 other GOP lawmakers.
"By moving the primary up, we'd be an area where primary candidates would stop by and discuss issues instead of just flying straight over to California," said Rhoads.
Hettrick said presidential candidates don't understand issues that Nevadans are concerned about, such as water, nuclear storage, mining, agriculture and gambling.
"They come to Las Vegas all right - they collect the checks and take off," he said.
Several Western governors and lawmakers had proposed the idea in an effort to bolster the region's clout in presidential primaries.
Rhoads and Hettrick said a year-2000 election between the New York-California primary in early March and the multi-state Super Tuesday vote in the South on March 14 is a way to make the region important to candidates both in terms of delegate count and momentum.
"If we went with the same date as California, we'd be overwhelmed by the 800-pound gorilla," Hettrick said. But by being held just days after California, the Western states primary could help a candidate who needed to bolster his campaign, he added.
The original plan called for eight states to hold primaries on the same date, but it's now down to three or four participants, depending on what Nevada does. Utah, Colorado and Wyoming are the only three in for sure.
A bill to include Montana died recently. New Mexico and Idaho backed out earlier. Hettrick said Arizona is still considering joining the primary.
He added that the ultimate goal is to get both parties to agree on a rotating regional primary system in which each region of the country would get a crack at top billing.
Gov. Kenny Guinn's deputy chief of staff, Victoria Soberinsky, testified that costs of the early multi-state primary would be offset by increased spending in Nevada by candidates when they campaign in the state.
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