Reid, Sandoval both claim win after first debate

CARSON CITY - Rory Reid and Brian Sandoval both declared victory following their weekend debate in Nevada's governor's race, and both can lay claim to being the winner, one analyst said Monday.

Neither made a campaign-spiraling gaffe, said Fred Lokken, political scientist at Truckee Meadows Community College, who called Sunday night's hour-long education forum "on message" and "uninspiring."

"That certainly happened last night," Lokken said.

For Reid, the Democratic nominee who has been trailing in polls by double-digits, the debate televised from the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy provided a statewide audience, even if viewership was distracted by the Emmy Awards and end-of-weekend sporting events.

"When you're behind, you want to get these issues out," Lokken said. "They couldn't even fill the gym in Las Vegas."

Sandoval, a former federal judge and state attorney general, holds a 53 percent to 31 percent lead over Reid, chairman of the Clark County Commission, according to a poll released over the weekend by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KLAS-TV.

As the front-runner, his objective was to not give his opponent any political fodder to use against him.

"He doesn't want to say anything that will come back to bite him," Lokken said.

Reid has taken to goading Sandoval on the campaign trail. During a luncheon with a group of contractors in Las Vegas, Reid initiated an impromptu debate, inviting Sandoval to come to the podium to take questions side by side.

At another event in Reno, Reid's campaign brought along a life-size cardboard cutout of the Republican nominee, suggesting Sandoval had been ducking the public.

Sunday night, he held up a hand-printed sign that read "$533 million," the amount Reid claims Sandoval's budget cuts, as proposed before a special legislative session in February, would take from education.

"Brian, there's something we need to clear up," Reid said. "If this isn't the right number, how much would you cut?"

Sandoval didn't flinch.

"You don't know your own budget plan," he told Reid, adding, "We all have to realize our state has challenges."

"My opponent has misled all of you," Sandoval said. "Nowhere in my plan does it call for the layoff of a single teacher."

Both candidates emphasize choice in education - from local spending decisions to where parents send their kids to school.

The latter, however, underscores a key difference in their philosophies.

Reid supports open enrollment, allowing parents to send their child to a public school of their choice.

Sandoval proposes vouchers, allowing parents to receive and apply the amount of the per-pupil state allotment for tuition at private schools.

The stakes are high going into next year, when budget officials project a $3 billion shortfall - nearly half the state's general fund. Both candidates have said they oppose raising taxes when Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures, bankruptcies and joblessness.

State budget experts and some lawmakers - Republicans and Democrats alike - scowl at the no-tax promises and call the candidates' budget calculations questionable and unrealistic. Many expect new taxes will be necessary.

Lynn Warne, president of the 28,000-member Nevada State Education Association, said the setting of Sunday night's debate highlighted what she believes Nevada education needs to improve student achievement and graduation rates, which languish near the bottom nationally.

She said the Agassi Academy funds its students at twice the amount the state provides.

"Without adequate funding ... we just truly aren't going to be able to make the kinds of strides that we need to in Nevada," she said.