Ex-Gov. Bob List: Gibbons may not seek re-election

RENO - Former Gov. Bob List said Monday he would not be surprised if fellow Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons abandons his plans to run for re-election next year because his popularity is so low and his chances of winning are "fairly slim."

"Frankly, I'm not convinced at this point that Gov. Gibbons is going to run," said List, who recently was named to the Republican National Committee.

"He's making the moves and indicating that is his current intention, but I think unfortunately for a whole host of reasons, his political popularity just isn't there. It's at a tremendously low level," he said on KRNV-TV's "Nevada Newsmakers."

"I think before it is done, he may come to the realization that this is going to be a terribly painful and difficult process with a likelihood of winning fairly slim - in which event he shouldn't run," List said.

According to a May 12-13 poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, only 11 percent of voters surveyed statewide said they would vote to re-elect Gibbons, a former congressman from Reno in his first term as governor.

In addition to a pending divorce, he's already under fire from a pair of Republicans who have launched campaigns to challenge him in a GOP primary next year.

North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon and former state Sen. Joe Heck say they think the governor is vulnerable over the $781 million tax increase plan and $6.8 billion two-year budget approved by lawmakers over his vetoes.

Nevertheless, Gibbons is insisting he's in the race for good.

"Absolutely the governor is definitely going to run for re-election," said Robert Olmer, director of campaign finance for Gibbons for Governor.

"His approval ratings can be tied to several things, including the downward turn in the economy, which obviously is not his fault," Olmer told The Associated Press on Monday.

"I think the people of Nevada are going to see the governor was trying to make the right decisions by holding the line on taxes," he said. "He has a great love for the state of Nevada and thinks his policies will turn things around sooner rather than later."

Gibbons is in the process of scheduling campaign fundraising events for the 2010 race, Olmer said. The annual report he filed with the state at the end of last year - the most recent available - showed he raised nearly $260,000 for his re-election campaign and another $150,000 to pay for his legal bills in 2008.

List, a former state attorney general who served as governor from 1979-83, lost his re-election bid to Democrat Richard Bryan.

"I know what it is like to lose an election," List said. "It is no fun. It takes a year of your life and you have to call your friends. It is a hard thing ...," List said.

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell is considering making the race.

On the Democratic side, List said he expects to see a "very healthy and strong primary" between Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid - the son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - and Nevada House Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. Neither has formally announced their candidacy but both are considering it.