Jim Gibbons (United States politician)

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For other people with similar names, see Jim Gibbons (disambiguation)

Jim Gibbons

Governor-Elect of Nevada
Term in office begins: January 1, 2007
Lieutenant Governor:	Brian Krolicki
Succeeeding:	Kenny Guinn
Born:	December 16, 1944 Sparks, Nevada
Political party:	Republican
Profession:	Geologist, attorney, pilot
Spouse:	Dawn Gibbons
Religion:	Mormon

James A. Gibbons (born December 16, 1944) is the Governor-elect of the U.S. state of Nevada. He has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Nevada's 2nd congressional district (map). The district encompasses the whole state outside of Clark County, plus a sliver of Clark County itself.

1 Biography
2 Political career
3 Criticism and controversy
4 Governorship
5 Quotations
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Sparks, Nevada, Gibbons interrupted his studies at the University of Nevada, Reno during the Vietnam War to serve in the United States Air Force (1967-1971). He also attended Southwestern University School of Law, in Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California for post-graduate studies. He is also a graduate of the US Air Force Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. He joined the Nevada Air Guard in 1975 and served as its vice commander from 1990 to 1996, participating in the first Gulf War. During his military career, Gibbons earned nineteen service medals, including the Legion of Merit and Distinguished Flying Cross. In civilian life, he has worked as a lawyer in private practice, an airline pilot for both Western Airlines and Delta Air Lines, a hydrologist and a geologist. Gibbons is a Latter-Day Saint; his wife is a Presbyterian.^[1]

[edit] Political career

Gibbons served in the Nevada State Assembly from 1989 to 1993, during which time he was called to active service in the Gulf War as an RF-4C Flight Leader. During the conflict, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his extraordinary achievement while participating in a mission in which he flew his unarmed aircraft on a vital reconnaissance mission to acquire politically sensitive imagery of enemy targets in Kuwait.

Including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Gibbons has received a total of 19 service medals throughout his military service, such as the Legion of Merit, Air Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster.

[edit] 1994 gubernatorial race

While working as a pilot for Delta Air Lines and serving as an assemblyman in the Nevada House, Gibbons ran for Nevada governor in 1994. As the Republican nominee, he lost to Democrat incumbent Bob Miller, receiving 156,875 votes to Miller's 200,026.

[edit] U.S. Congress

He was elected to the House in 1996 for Nevada's 2nd congressional district, and serves as vice chairman of the House Resources Committee, as well as on the Armed Services Committee, the Homeland Security Committee, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. His wife, Dawn Gibbons, was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1998.

[edit] 2006 gubernatorial race

Main article: Nevada gubernatorial election, 2006

Gibbons vacated his Congressional seat and ran for Governor of Nevada. He won the August 15 party primary handily, defeating state senator Bob Beers and Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt. In the general election (described as "most contentious, ugly and negative in history" [2]) he faced Democrat nominee Dina Titus, who is the Minority Leader in the Nevada State Senate. Gibbons received 278,984 votes to Titus' 255,675. Titus won Clark County, Nevada's most populous, but was beaten by Gibbons in every other county. Gibbons called Titus "an admirable opponent," although Titus declined to echo his sentiments, saying ""We disagree on basic policies, and neither one of us is going to change our minds for the other." [3]

[edit] Criticism and controversy

Gibbons also stirred controversy in August 2006 when Nevada House of Representatives Speaker Richard Perkins refused to allow a young singer and a color guard to perform for the gathered lawmakers in the Assembly chamber prior to a Gibbons’ speech.^[2]

In November 2005, Gibbons and Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA) co-authored an amendment to the Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill easing restrictions of sale of federal lands to mining companies. This amendment attracted fire from environmentalists, anti-growth advocates, and even some Republican Senators ^[3] concerned about the measure's effects on hunting and fishing. Although the bill (and amendment) narrowly passed the House, it was defeated by the Senate.

Journalist Chris Mooney has criticised Gibbons for using rhetoric in place of sound science to base judgements, particularly in regard to a 2005 report Gibbons produced with Pombo that some saw as underplaying the effects of mercury poisoning^[4].

[edit] Plagiarism

A speech given in February 2005 by Rep. Gibbons in Elko, Nevada was actually plagiarized from a copyrighted speech delivered in 2003 by then Alabama State Auditor Beth Chapman at a "Stand up America" rally. ^[5]

[edit] Alleged sexual assault and cover up

On October 13, 2006, Gibbons, his political campaign adviser, Sig Rogich, and four women, including a cocktail waitress, Chrissy Mazzeo, were drinking together at McCormick & Schmick's restaurant. Afterwards, Gibbons walked Mazzeo to her truck, parked in a Hughes Center parking garage. At that point, according to reports, "Mazzeo told police that Gibbons grabbed her arms, threw her up against a wall in the parking garage and tried to coerce her into having sex. Gibbons said he merely was helping Mazzeo find her truck when she stumbled just before they entered the garage and he grabbed her arms to break her fall."^[6]

Mazzeo went to police and claimed that if there were surveillance tapes for the garage, they would prove her allegations. The next day, police contacted the garage and were told that no tapes existed, whereupon Mazzeo decided to drop the charges. Tapes did exist, however. On October 25 Mazzeo held a press conference in which she claimed that some in Gibbons' camp had pressured her to drop the investigation, and that she would cooperate if the case were re-opened. On that same day, the real estate firm that managed the garage turned the tapes over to the police, and a few days later this became public knowledge. At that point, Mazzeo reinstated her complaint and the police resumed their investigation.^[7]

On November 3rd, the Associated Press reported that a partial review of the surveillance tapes showed no attack, nor either Gibbons or Mazzeo, during the time in question. ^[8] Complicating the matter is not only the 11-day loss of "chain of custody", but the many ties that Gibbons has to the various parties involved: the real estate firm is a major supporter of Gibbons and held a fundraiser for him the night before the incident. Rogich, Gibbons' campaign manager and drinking partner that night, was previously a lobbyist for the real estate firm, and has a company that leases offices from the firm. Additionally, Gibbons and the Sheriff investigating the case, Bill Young, share the same lawyer, Don Campbell, and the case is initially being heard by District Judge Douglas Herndon, who "owes his seat on the bench in part to Sig Rogich." ^[9]

[edit] Hiring of illegal immigrant

On October 25 2006, the Las Vegas CBS affiliate reported that an illegal immigrant from Peru was employed by the Gibbons family as a nanny.[4] The story came to light after the nanny, Martha Pastor-Sandoval, decided to speak out against Gibbons' anti-immigration views.

[edit] Federal Contracts to Supporters

On November 1, 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported that Gibbons, as a Representative, had helped a software entrepreneur based in his district, Warren Trepp, to get federal contracts. Trepp's eTreppid Technologies has millions of dollars in classified federal software contracts from the Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Central Intelligence Agency. Trepp contributed nearly $100,000 to Gibbons' campaign for governor, and hosted Gibbons, his wife, and his son, on a weeklong Caribbean cruise in March 2005, including flying the three on a chartered plane back to Nevada. Gibbons failed to report the trip as a gift on his financial disclosure forms, or to request approval in advance as required by House rules.

The Journal also reported that according to sworn testimony in a civil lawsuit filed in February 2006 in federal court in Reno, Gibbons also got unreported gifts of cash and casino chips from Trepp. A former employee of Trepp's says Gibbons got about $400,000 in cash and casino chips. Gibbons and Trepp both deny that there were such payments to Gibbons.

Nevada law prohibits individuals or corporations from giving more than $10,000 to a candidate in a single election cycle. Gibbons said the campaign contributions to him, though nearly $100,000, didn't violate Nevada law because they came through different corporate entities owned by Trepp. ^[10]^[11]

[edit] Governorship

Gibbons has created two groups to work on policy regarding the state budget and the K-16 educational system. It is his stated intention not to raise taxes, and to use public dollars efficiently for schools. [5]

[edit] Quotations

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Jim Gibbons (United States politician)

"Tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals [in Hollywood should]… go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else…. It's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket [to become human shields in Iraq]." ^[12]
"Anybody who is against [corporate-funded celebrations] obviously must be a communist."^[13]
"Look at the movie 'Wag the Dog, I think [the Lewinsky scandal] has all the elements of that movie. Our reaction to the embassy bombings should be based on sound, credible evidence, not a knee-jerk reaction to try to direct public attention away from his (Bill Clinton's) personal problems."^[14]
"... I learned an important lesson, never to offer a helping hand to anybody ever again", following the alleged assault involving Chrissy Mazzeo in October of 2006.[6]
"I would have loved to have been the committee chairman and when the choice was made to go with Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), of course that disappointed me...but as my mother would say, when one door closes, another opens up",^[15] regarding Gibbons' non-selection for chair of the House Intelligence Committee, and the possibility that he could instead run for Governor.

[edit] References

^ Inaccuracy Fixed: Gibbons Mystified by Inaccurate Listing - Las Vegas Review Journal 5/19/06
^ Gibbons owes students, legislators apology - Reno Gazette Journal, 3/1/05
^ GOP senators wary of provision on federal land sales - GovExec.com 11/28/05
^ Thank You for Polluting - Seed Magazine
^ JIM GIBBONS’ ELKO SPEECH PLAGIARIZED - Nevada State Democractic Party news 3/3/05
^ Jeff German and Sam Skolnik. "Little seems secure about security tapes", Las Vegas Sun, November 2, 2006.
^ "A tale of the tapes", Las Vegas Sun, November 1, 2006.
^ [1]
^ Jeff German and Sam Skolnik. "One degree of separation among players around surveillance tapes", Las Vegas Sun, November 1, 2006.
^ "Report looks at Gibbons' dealings with entrepreneur", Associated Press, November 2, 2006
^ Molly Ball, Steve Tetreault, and Ed Vogel, "Gibbons admits contract role: Republican helped software firm, accepted cruise from owner", Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 2, 2006
^ Demanding an Apology - Fox News 3/4/05
^ Corporate cash backs Bush inaugural bash - MSNBC, 1/19/05
^ Did Jim Gibbons Aid Al Qaida? - votegibbonsout.blog.com 3/31/04
^ Gibbons Mulls Bid For Governor - Reno Gazette Journal, 1/13/05

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Barbara Vucanovich	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada's 2nd congressional district 1997-present	Succeeded by: Dean Heller (elected)