For a ‘flawed candidate,’ Shelley Berkley did plenty for Nevada

Long ago, I had lunch with a Republican who reported a strange conversation on Capitol Hill. A GOP committee chairman had told him that, if Nevada really wanted a seat at the federal table, voters here should re-elect Rep. Shelley Berkley.

My dining companion was surprised, and asked the Republican lawmaker why he was endorsing the re-election of a Democrat. Simple, the chairman replied: Berkley is so aggressively persistent (and here I am paraphrasing, for the tastes of a family newspaper) that we’ll give her what she wants just to get her to go away.

Nevada lost a chance to send that smart, driven and passionate defender of the middle class to the U.S. Senate this month. In the days since her defeat, anonymous sources have surfaced to say Berkley was a flawed candidate who collapsed under the weight of ethics scandals.

Could Berkley have avoided any hint of problem by abstaining from votes or advocacy where her husband’s medical practice was involved? Of course. Was her response to the charges halting and uneven at times? Yes. Did that hurt her campaign? Yes.

But did the already-wealthy Berkley ever act out of greed? Only the most partisan or most ill-informed believe that. And to allow the final impression of Berkley as she leaves the political stage to be that of a self-dealing, unethical person would be a scandal in itself.

So, with that in mind, let’s recall a few of the things Berkley accomplished for her constituents during her seven terms in office.

First, although it mired her in a House Ethics Committee investigation, Berkley helped save the kidney transplant program at UMC. This allows Southern Nevadans to avoid the time, stress and expense of having to travel to Los Angeles or Phoenix for a critical operation, and it has undoubtedly saved lives.

Second, Berkley was instrumental in getting the new veterans hospital for Southern Nevada. That was no easy legislative feat, and Berkley was critical to seeing it through. And like the UMC kidney program, the local veterans hospital will save, extend and improve the quality of life for people who served this nation in uniform.

Third, when you’re preparing your next income tax return and you write off the sales tax you paid to the state of Nevada, thank Berkley. She helped fight every year to allow Nevadans to deduct their sales taxes, the way residents of other states get to write off their income tax. And because that provision isn’t permanent, it required constant vigilance by Berkley and the rest of Nevada’s delegation to renew it time and again.

Fourth, Berkley was a key soldier in the lopsided battle against Yucca Mountain. Nevada was targeted long before Berkley came to Congress, but she fought the uphill battle against completing the nuclear waste repository. Without the efforts of Berkley, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and many others, nuclear waste might be headed by truck and train to Nevada’s desert right now.

Fifth, Berkley helped secure funding for myriad projects, things we see and probably take for granted every day that might not exist without her efforts. Those include funds for The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the Mob Museum, McCarran International Airport, flood control projects and transportation.

No matter what was said about Berkley during the campaign, no one can say she didn’t work tirelessly in her 14 years in Congress, or that she didn’t love the state of Nevada.

We’ll certainly go on without Berkley. But we’ve lost a fierce champion on Capitol Hill, one not easy to replace. Let’s keep that in mind for just a minute as we bid her farewell from the stage.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.