Let's get ready to rumble

And you thought the primary was nasty?

Dina Titus ran over Jim Gibson with a pay-to-play campaign monorail. Now the fiery Democrat has to attack the elusive Jim Gibbons, as he seeks shelter in the friendly confines of rural and Northern Nevada.

Treasurer Brian Krolicki survived a wild and Woollen primary battle for lieutenant governor. But now Krolicki has to face another self-funding machine named Bob Unger - who, unlike Woollen, doesn't rent equipment to adult-movie makers.

Jerry Airola may feel like a victim of an officer-involved shooting after barely surviving the primary. But even more guns are being loaded right now to defeat the faux cop and secure the sheriff's office for the Establishment.

The overture is over, and over the next 11 weeks candidates will be running after each other and away from their records as they seek to grab new titles or retain old ones come Nov. 7.

Democrats find themselves underdogs in most of the state's major races, but could that change by Election Day?

Beyond the internal dynamics of the races - some of which are outlined and previewed below - comes the indeterminate impact of external factors.

To wit:

I have taken a snapshot of the general election landscape with a look at a variety of important contests.

| Combatants |

Undersheriff Doug Gillespie, businessman Jerry Airola

| Money |

Gillespie, $160,000; Airola, millions

| Dynamic |

It's pretty clear-cut - go with the Establishment guy or the outsider. History shows the public generally likes Metro and goes with the insider as sheriff.

Gillespie is respected but not a campaign dynamo. The endorsement from Laurie Bisch, who almost knocked Airola out of the runoff, can't hurt.

Airola spent $2 million and was nearly doubled in votes by Gillespie, who spent less than a third of that. Airola's spots showed him very comfortable on camera but it's possible voters think he's too slick to be sheriff. His unnecessary burnishing of his law enforcement credentials and stories about his business practices caused him to hemorrhage. Can he stop the bleeding?

| What Gillespie needs to do |

Raise as much money as he can - he may need it. Hope Airola decides not to write another seven-figure check after so badly losing the primary.

| What Airola needs to do |

Write another seven-figure check. Make the election a referendum on Metro and hope that the police department loses.

| Number to remember |

16. That was the number of candidates in the primary. But now there are two and the contrast will be stark.

| Wild cards |

Any adverse publicity for Metro hurts Gillespie and can be exploited by Airola.

| Rating |

Strong lean Gillespie

GOVERNOR

| Combatants |

Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus, GOP Rep. Jim Gibbons.

| Money |

Gibbons, $1.8 million; Titus, $200,000.

| Dynamic |

"She needs a lot of luck," one longtime Democrat said of Titus.

"She is damn near unelectable in a race of this magnitude in this state," observed one veteran GOP operative.

But what Titus has shown since she first declared her candidacy more than 18 months ago is an indomitability, a relentlessness and a ruthlessness that are unmatched.

Her utter destruction of Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who came into the race as a thoughtful leader with a gubernatorial mien and finished as a caricature of a compromised pol, was astonishing to behold.

Gibbons is a different story. Although not the smoothest elected official around, the congressman demonstrated awesome vote-getting power outside Clark County and held his own in Southern Nevada.

His financial advantage is daunting, and you can rest assured his supporters already are reminding donors that an investment in Titus at this point is not advisable.

| What Gibbons needs to do |

Play hide and seek as well as he did in the primary. Don't talk about things too much, especially if they involve how he got his Delta Air Lines job back (tweaking a Delta lobbyist who came to the state capital on business). Remind everyone how conservative he is and practice saying the word "liberal" with as much disdain as possible.

| What Titus needs to do |

Go for the throat early and often and clamor for debates. Portray Gibbons as an ineffectual backbencher , a failed congressman snubbed by his own congressional leaders. Exhume those old quotes from Chancellor Jim Rogers about how dumb and unprepared the congressman is to be governor.

| Number to remember |

80,000. That's how many votes Gibbons may be leading Titus by after the numbers are counted in rural and Northern Nevada, a deficit that may be impossible to overcome.

| Wild cards |

Titus' temperament. Can she keep her cool? Gibbons' mouth. Can he keep his foot out of it?

| Rating |

Solid lean Gibbons

U.S. SENATE

| Combatants |

Republican incumbent John Ensign, Democrat Jack Carter.

| Money |

Ensign, $3.2 million; Carter, $380,000.

| Dynamic |

Conventional wisdom says Carter, the ex-president's son, has about as much of a chance as a peanut does against an elephant. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will be of little help. No one wins a U.S. Senate race when you have one-tenth the money of your foe.

Ensign looks good and sounds good. That will be enough.

| What Ensign needs to do |

Not much. And a lot of it.

| What Carter needs to do |

Pray. A lot.

| Number to remember |

4. That's about the number of years Carter has been a Nevadan.

| Wild cards |

The plummeting national GOP poll numbers - they could make the race closer than it seems.

| Rating |

Near-lock Ensign

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2

| Combatants |

Republican Secretary of State Dean Heller, Democratic Regent Jill Derby.

| Money |

Heller, $260,000; Derby, $444,000.

| Dynamic |

National Democrats are excited about this race but would have been more so if Sharron Angle had won. The district may not be as conservative as it was when Barbara Vucanovich held the seat, but there are still 48,000 more Republicans than Democrats. And partisan voting patterns are more entrenched in federal races.

Heller is an attractive, middle-of-the-road Republican who will be tough for Derby to assail. But she has raised a substantial amount of cash and did not experience a bruising primary, as Heller did.

| What Heller needs to do |

Rally the base around him. Not making any major mistakes. Remind everyone how wonderfully respected the Board of Regents is.

| What Derby needs to do |

Ride a national wave if there is one. Find issues about Heller no one has focused on yet. Shun the liberal label.

| Number to remember |

50,000. That's how many registered independents there are in this district, about one-seventh of the total, and Derby needs most of them.

| Wild cards |

Heller could lose in a recount and Angle could be the nominee. Scandal in the secretary of state's office. The regents could be given a national award for the state of higher education in Nevada.

| Rating |

Solid lean Heller

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3

| Combatants |

Republican incumbent Jon Porter Democrat Tessa Hafen.

| Money |

Porter, $1.5 million; Hafen, $568,000.

| Dynamic |

"She needs a break," one Democrat said of Hafen, who is Sen. Harry Reid's ex-press secretary. A Republican insider added, "Tessa Hafen will need a great year, a lot of Harry's help, some luck and a really, really good campaign to pull it off."

Hafen has at least one of those factors already. Reid is going all-out for her in making money calls and putting out the word in D.C. that she can win.

The rest is still unclear.

Porter is seen as inoffensive, and there is no obvious reason to throw him out. He is not mistake-prone, he seems to get better as a candidate each cycle and he has a proven campaign team that shredded previous opponents Dario Herrera and Tom Gallagher.

But Hafen has no obvious baggage, as those two did, and her youthfulness (she's only 30) belies a toughness and savvy. It's also a more difficult task in politics to attack a woman. She needs a lot of help, but the basic ingredients are there.

| What Porter needs to do |

What he has done in the past - be steady, be invisible. Keep talking about how he differs with the president and find something besides Yucca Mountain to prove it. Play to his nice-guy image and hope it sticks.

| What Hafen needs to do |

Get a lot of help from the national folks. Find an issue that resonates. Hope for a national wave.

| Number to remember |

1,616. That's the registration advantage the Democrats have in this district now. If Hafen can hold the base, as Herrera and Gallagher could not, and get her share of the 92,000 independents, she can win.

| Wild cards |

Can Porter be morphed into George W. Bush?

Can Hafen be morphed into Harry Reid?

And the answer to this question may determine the outcome: We know how Porter is as a candidate - how will Hafen perform?

| Rating |

Lean Porter

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

| Combatants |

Republican Treasurer Brian Krolicki Democrat Bob Unger.

| Money |

Krolicki, $300,000 ; Unger, $60,000.

| Dynamic |

Krolicki survived the Barbara Lee Woollen assault and performed impressively. He crushed her and still has money left over.

Unger did barely enough to survive against a weak field. He will need to spend a lot more of his own money to be competitive.

Woollen probably increased Krolicki's negatives, but she also did him a favor and boosted his name identification. The treasurer is beloved by the party faithful, if not by the elected elite. Unger is a complete unknown.

| What Krolicki needs to do |

Not talk about illegal immigration. Get the governor and other Republicans to help him. Try not to be too smarmy.

| What Unger needs to do |

Hope for a Democratic wave in the state. Spend at least another few hundred thousand. Find an issue that sticks to Krolicki.

| Number to remember |

1986. That's the last year a Democrat was elected lieutenant governor. His name was Bob, too, and he became Gov. Bob Miller.

| Wild cards |

Krolicki's record as treasurer. Unger's record as a developer.

| Rating |

Solid lean Krolicki

ATTORNEY GENERAL

| Combatants |

Republican Don Chairez, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

| Money |

Chairez, $60,000 ; Cortez Masto, $550,000.

| Dynamic |

One Republican summed it up this way, "This is the best we could do?"

Ex-Judge Chairez filed at the last minute after incumbent George Chanos decided to opt out. He has raised very little money, with much of it coming from in-state and out-of-state supporters of his eminent domain initiative, People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land (PISTOL).

But many Republicans fear this PISTOL, at least as a campaign gun for Chairez, will shoot blanks.

Cortez Masto, a former deputy county manager and gubernatorial chief of staff, is not an experienced lawyer. But neither was former Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Cortez Masto is well liked and will have all the money she needs.

| What Chairez needs to do |

Find some sugar daddies. Hope the red state demographics help him. Latch onto PISTOL and talk about little else.

| What Cortez Masto needs to do |

Not make any serious mistakes. Keep raising money.

| Number to remember |

22. Total number of contributions Chairez has received.

| Wild cards |

Where is Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson (owner of the Venetian). Won't he help Chairez? Will high GOP turnout make this a race?

| Rating |

Very solid lean Cortez Masto

STATE TREASURER

| Combatants |

Republican Mark DeStefano, Democrat Kate Marshall.

| Money |

DeStefano, $500,000 ; Marshall, $50,000.

| Dynamic |

As one observer tartly put it, "Do you take a female lawyer with 50K and no financial experience over a guy with 500K, a bankruptcy and a psychotic disorder? Tough call."

It could be argued that neither candidate has any business in this race - DeStefano has a bankruptcy and was fired for what was termed a "psychotic disorder" from a job as an air traffic controller while Marshall only is in the race because she got pushed out of the secretary of state's contest when ex-Gov. Bob Miller's son got in.

Both scored impressive primary victories but DeStefano still has plenty of money and can self-fund. He has more apparent baggage, however, and has not endeared himself to a lot of the faithful - hence the move to support the late Kathy Augustine.

| What DeStefano needs to do |

Emphasize that the bankruptcy was a learning experience and that he is now very successful. Try not to act psychotically . Show off his knowledge of the office.

| What Marshall needs to do |

Get money - a lot of it. Stay on DeStefano's baggage. Hope the top of the ticket helps and doesn't hurt.

| Number to remember |

1. That's the place DeStefano finished when he ran for regent - but he was kicked off the ballot after a residency scam.

| Wild cards |

Does Marshall have any secret baggage that has caused a detractor to set up a brutal blog about her, or is it just fiction? Will DeStefano get the faithful to rally around him now that it's time for the general?

| Rating |

What had been a tossup earlier this year is now a lean to DeStefano.

SECRETARY OF STATE

| Combatants |

Republican Danny Tarkanian Democrat Ross Miller

| Money |

Tarkanian, $40,000 Miller, $160,000

| Dynamic |

The battle of the sons of famous fathers - Tarkanian, son of the longest-serving UNLV basketball coach, and Miller, the son of the longest-serving governor. Miller is young - not even 30 - but has impressed donors and audiences with his maturity and knowledge. Tarkanian survived a spirited primary with Brian Scroggins and exploited fears about illegal immigrants voting in elections.

|What Tarkanian needs to do |

Raise some money. Find an issue or two to use against Miller.

| What Miller needs to do |

Raise more money. Get people to look beyond the Tark name.

| Number to remember |

4,113. That's how many more votes Miller received in the primary than Tarkanian did - not that impressive because Tarkanian had a real primary.

| Wild cards |

Is there really anything in that opposition research file on Tarkanian compiled by Harry Reid when Little Tark was musing about a U.S. Senate run? Will Miller's youth be an asset or a liability?

| Rating |

Lean Miller

CLARK COUNTY COMMISSION, DISTRICT F

| Combatants |

GOP Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald, Democratic School Board member Susan Brager.

| Money |

Boggs McDonald, $1 million; Brager, $50,000

| Dynamic |

This wouldn't even be considered a race except for the district's Democratic-leaning demographics and labor's desire to destroy the incumbent. Even so, Boggs McDonald is as tough as they come, as her victory over ex-Assemblyman David Goldwater showed. She might be vulnerable to a clean Democrat - but being on the School Board is not a great springboard these days.

| What Boggs McDonald needs to do |

Use her financial advantage. Distance herself from the commission's G-Sting hangover.

| What Brager needs to do |

Get a lot of help from the unions. Find an issue against the incumbent.

| Number to remember |

6,621. That's how many more Democrats there are than Republicans in the district.

| Wild cards |

Don't underestimate the labor folks, especially the Culinary Union, if they go to the wall. And a national Democratic turnout wave could help Brager.

| Rating |

Very solid lean Boggs McDonald

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