MARK WAITE / PVT Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, at right, buttons up to prepare for a photo while chatting with Paul Willis, acting chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, left, during the Lincoln Day dinner Friday night. Advertisement

State Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, announced he would run for reelection for the Central Nevada Senatorial District in 2008 at the annual Nye County Lincoln Day dinner here Friday night.

Candidates often announce their candidacy at the Lincoln Day dinner during an election year. McGinness felt compelled to jump the gun and announce a year early to settle some reports circulating in political circles.

"There's been a lot of discussion whether I am eligible to run because of term limits. I got an opinion," McGinness said. He noted his daughter was 8 years old when he first won election to the legislature as an assemblyman; she's 26 now.

McGinness, owner of a Fallon radio station, was first elected to the state assembly in 1989. He won election for his first term as state senator in 1992. Nevada voters passed a term limits initiative in 1994 and 1996 that set a 12 year term limit in the legislature from the date of passage. That means if he wins re-election, Sen. McGinness' next term would be his last. He has to step down after the 2011 session.

McGinness said the term limits initiative didn't begin until it was canvassed by the Nevada Supreme Court. His first term under term limits was 2000, the senator said.

"I normally don't announce this early. The presidential election has got my blood boiling and I'm announcing tonight I'm running for re-election to the Nevada Senate," McGinness said.

He added, "Representation in rural Nevada is what I've been doing in my 18 years in the Nevada Legislature."

McGinness said there are a number of important events awaiting state Republicans in the upcoming years. There's the 2008 presidential election as well as the re-election of U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev. In 2011 the state legislature will begin redistricting after the census, he said.

McGinness applauded the work of the citizen legislature, with representatives like rancher Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, dairyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, ministers, certified public accountants, even a radio executive like himself. But he added, "I think we have too many people from the public sector who don't know what it's like to earn a paycheck or make a payroll."

In a cornerstone statement on Republican philosophy, McGinness appeared to be preaching to the choir when he said, "Local government, get out of the way and let people get on with their lives. We need to foster some personal responsibility."

McGinness said Democrats are showing a high profile in the state with the Nevada Democratic presidential caucus in February 2008.

McGinness mentioned the importance of Pahrump's growing population in his Central Nevada Senatorial District, which with almost 17,000 registered voters in the 2008 primary represented close to one-third of the 52,859 registered voters in his district.

McGinness represents a vast area that includes all of Churchill, Esmeralda and Mineral counties, along with parts of Nye, Clark, Lyon and Douglas counties. Senator Rhoads represents Smoky Valley, Belmont and the Duckwater area as part of his vast Northern Nevada Senatorial District.

"In the district I represent there are seven assembly people in it. We all try to kind of work together," McGinness said.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Central Nevada Senatorial District 26,745 to 16,652.

Newly-elected Republican Governor Jim Gibbons, in his brief remarks at the Lincoln Day dinner, said since he took office Jan. 1, "The last 60 days have been a whirlwind. I've enjoyed every minute of it."

Gibbons said he wouldn't let the voters down, just as he claimed he hadn't in 10 years in Congress.

Gibbons said his goals include making sure Nevada lives within its means and ensuring children meet the challenges that await.

The governor recalled his first state legislative session with Senator McGinness, back in 1989.

First Lady Dawn Gibbons, who ran for Congress unsuccessfully against Heller, has taken the lead in the fight against methamphetamine and now autism, the governor said.

Whenever he attends a Lincoln Day dinner, an annual Republican fete, Gibbons said he's reminded of the days when Washoe County only had 80,000 people and Clark County 127,000 residents.

"Look how blessed we are, lowest unemployment, the fastest growing economy and one of the fastest growing states," Gibbons said in his official remarks.

Dean Heller was another prominent figure at the dinner, the former Nevada secretary of state who replaced Gibbons representing the second congressional district in Washington. In informal remarks, Heller talked about the San Francisco liberal type politicians in the capitol since he took office in January.

Heller said freshman congressmen aren't condemned to a role of being strictly listeners, not being active participants in politics while they learn the ropes. But he said fellow congressmen want to see if a freshman will win re-election before they become "a real player."

When asked if he works well with U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Heller said, "On Nevada issues we're all on the same page."