Bob Beers

Gov. Jim Gibbons.LAS VEGAS - In the hectic scramble before the 25th Special Session of the Nevada state legislature convenes next week, Gov. Jim Gibbons' office is giving legislators a green light to come up with their own proposals to fix the state's budget shortfall.

"Anything that's a viable option, [legislators] will be able to consider," said Gibbons press secretary Ben Kieckhefer Wednesday. "If there's something that we weren't able to encapsulate for some reason in our proclamation or in the agenda we set forth, we'd be willing to amend it so it could be considered."

Control of the agenda is one of the strongest tools Gibbons holds to either push his own plan to fix the shortfall or support efforts by Republican allies. By sticking to his pledge that "no options are off the table," Gibbons could be inviting a drawn-out, acrimonious special session.

From left:Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley (D-Las Vegas), state Sen. Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas), state Sen. Joe Heck (R-Henderson).LAS VEGAS - Perhaps the biggest irony of Gov. Jim Gibbons' call for a special session of the legislature June 23 is that he could potentially be providing a golden opportunity for the politician who could defeat him in 2010.

Three state legislators, Assembly Speaker Barbara (D-Las Vegas) and state Sens. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) and Bob Beers (R-Las Vegas), are rumored to be interested in Gibbons' job, and any one of them could use the session to strike a first blow in an eventual campaign against him.

Taking into account his "no solutions are off the table" pledge and short of Gibbons shooting the moon politically, here is what we can expect to see next week from the looming gubernatorial contest.

Nevada Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford (D-Las Vegas).: Horsford said Friday that the governor's call for a special session was an unnecessary 'political maneuver.'LAS VEGAS - Following Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' surprise announcement Friday that he would call for a special session of the state legislature to address Nevada's budget crisis, state Republicans swung into line behind the governor in arguing that choices are limited between either deferring state employees' cost-of-living allowance increases or laying off workers.

Nevada Democrats and labor unions condemned the call, however, saying a special session is not necessary and disputing the need for a COLA deferment.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno) led the way in supporting the governor, first suggesting the COLA deferment in the governor's release Friday morning.

LAS VEGAS - Gov. Jim Gibbons' announcement today that he will issue an executive order for a special session of the state legislature next week is a warning to incumbent legislators to get their contributions in quick, the spigot's shutting off.

State law prohibits the governor, lieutenant governor and state legislators from either asking for or receiving political contributions for 15 days before, during or after a special session.  That prohibition will not take effect, however, until the day after the governor signs the executive order.

Gibbons said the session will begin Jun. 23 and will last no more than five days, meaning that it may be as late as mid-July before legislators can begin to fundraise again.

LAS VEGAS-With the announcement last week by the Nevada Republican Party that it has chosen Jul. 26 to reconvene its first, unsuccessful convention, controversies remain for Ron Paul supporters and previously voted-on delegates that could lead all the way to the Republican National Convention in September.

Supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) hope to host a form of make-up convention on Jun. 28 and believe that if they achieve a quorum of the previous Apr. 26 convention attendees they may be able to elect a slate of delegates that could be seated at the national convention. 

The effort, which is thus far being bankrolled by Reno dentist and Paul supporter Dr. Wayne Terhune, is sanctioned by the Ron Paul campaign and is being organized largely over Web sites like Meetup and Digg.com.

In order for their Jun. 28 date to have any chance of electing delegates that will actually be seated, however, Paul supporters will have to overcome enormous strategic and legal hurdles that will test the burgeoning power of netroots-fueled movements like Paul's.

Republican candidates attend Spring Mountain Republican Women Meet and Greet.: From left: Kenneth Pollock, Lisa Marie Johnson, Ron Garrett, Bryce Duckworth, Carole Donald, Sean Fellows, Kris Pickering, Ed "Mr. Clean" Hamilton, David Rivers, Tim Williams, Richard McArthur, Donna Toussaint, Valerie Weber, Bob Beers, William KephardtLAS VEGAS-More than a dozen Republican candidates for office were in northwest Las Vegas last night, meeting and greeting voters at an event sponsored by the Spring Mountain Republican Women.  Although it was a windy evening, more than a hundred voters and activists attended the event, picking up "Bob Beers for Senate" t-shirts and learning which candidates are worth contributing to.

"Pretty darn good turnout," said Beers, who recruited several volunteers at the event.  Beers is being challenged this year by Democrat Allison Copening in his Senate District 6, which is expected to be one of the closest contested of the season.

Eight assembly candidates, one of them challenging a Republican incumbent, two family court judicial candidates, two district court judicial candidates, one Supreme Court candidate, one Clark County Commission candidate and one congressional candidate rounded out the field at the event.

Newly elected Nevada Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford speaks to volunteers at a voter registration drive Saturday.: Photo by Joseph K. Cooper/PolitickerNV.comLAS VEGAS-When Nevada Senate Democrats wrapped up their four-hour meeting Friday night, they had selected a new leader and created the outlines of a plan to take over the majority. The only things they lacked were specifics.

"Our caucus spent a lot of time last night talking about how we were going to work as a team to take the majority in November," said state Sen. Steven Horsford (D-Las Vegas), the newly elected Democratic leader, Saturday.

"Our first goal is to win in November, so that's what we're focused on. Once we get beyond winning, we'll start looking into how we will govern in 2009."

I would get carpal tunnel trying to put this ongoing Ron Paul Circus into one post, so I had always planned to spread it into several different posts with different aspects of the fiasco.  A circus does have three rings, after all.

The original plan was to have the candidate and his views first, then the operatives, and then the supporters.  But recent on-the-record correspondence with Jeff Greenspan, the Regional Director of the Ron Paul campaign has vaulted him ahead of his candidate in the pecking order.

LAS VEGAS-- Filing began this morning for non-judicial candidates in the Silver State, officially kicking off the election season. Check back regularly throughout the day with PolitickerNV.com for a list of filed candidates.

And be sure to check back at the end of the day for a summary.

Newly filed candidates in Clark and Washoe Counties:

LAS VEGAS-- Filing began this morning for non-judicial candidates in the Silver State, officially kicking off the election season. Check back regularly throughout the day with PolitickerNV.com for a list of filed candidates.

And be sure to check back at the end of the day for a summary.

Newly filed candidates in Clark and Washoe Counties: