Las Vegas Review-Journal - Steve Sebelius Slash Politics

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki was quoted today telling the Review-Journal that he could beat Harry Reid, although Krolicki has said he doesn’t know yet if he will jump into the already-crowded race against Nevada’s senior senator. (We haven’t asked, but we’re fairly sure all the candidates currently in the race against Reid would also say they could beat the senator. Heck, according to polls, many can!)

But Krolicki’s remark reminded one alert Slash Politics reader of another quote uttered by another Republican in a similar situation: Then-Congressman Jim Gibbons, who in 2003 announced he would not challenge Reid in 2004 and instead would stay in Congress. Three years later, Gibbons would run successfully for governor of Nevada. This is what he told reporters that day in 2003, according to an Associated Press account:

“There is no doubt in my mind that I could defeat the existing senator [Reid] on Election Day, but my decision has nothing to do with Sen. Harry Reid,” Gibbons said at a morning new conference at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“But I do know that to devote 14 months to a partisan political campaign given the immense responsibilities I have today and the significant challenges we face simply is not in the best interest of Nevadans, this state or this nation.”

Gibbons held a seat on the House Intelligence Committee at the time, and was once thought to be a potential chairman. Ultimately, however, House leaders selected somebody else for the post.

Even better is Reid’s reaction to Gibbons’s announcement that he’d leave the race, which left Reid facing only one challenger in 2004: the underfunded, underwhelming Richard Ziser, whom Reid defeated 61 percent to 35 percent.

Reid called Gibbons a “strong and important member of Nevada’s Congressional delegation” and said he looked forward to working together on issues important to Nevada.

“Congressman Gibbons’ seniority in the House of Representatives is an asset to our state, making the true beneficiary of his decision today the people of Nevada,” Reid said.

Reid and his wife, Landra, are longtime friend of Gibbons and his wife.

Anybody think that’s still true? (The Gibbons-being-friends-with-Reid part, not the Gibbons-and-his-wife part, obviously.) I tend to doubt it, given the back and forth between Gibbons and Reid on the issue of funding for a high-speed train between Las Vegas and California.

Lastly, I couldn’t cut the end of the 2003 story about Gibbons skipping the Senate race in favor of something else down the line. In retrospect, it’s just tragic.

“I have a bright future,” he [Gibbons] said.

Gibbons has said that he has been encouraged to run for governor in 2006 when Kenny Guinn must step down because of term limits.

“All doors are open,” he told the Reno gathering. “We have not closed the door on any political office.

“I would like to be a member of the U.S. Senate and possibly someday, I will be.”

I tend to doubt it now, governor. But, to coin a phrase, isn’t it pretty to think so?

Tags: Brian Krolicki, Jim Gibbons

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