Plenty of lessons learned during an interesting 2011

Usually, odd-numbered years aren’t that great for political news. But 2011 proved to be an exception in some very big ways.

First, the slow-motion implosion of former U.S. Sen. John Ensign changed the face of politics for many. Ensign’s announcement in March that he wouldn’t seek re-election and his abrupt resignation in April (just ahead of an under-oath deposition before the Senate Ethics Committee) opened quite a few doors.

Lesson learned: As the author of the book of Numbers noted, your sin will find you out. The fact that just months before his career imploded Ensign entertained presidential hopes now looks ridiculous in retrospect.

But his resignation turned out to be good news for Dean Heller, who Gov. Brian Sandoval plucked from the House of Representatives to fill Ensign’s term. And it prompted Rep. Shelley Berkley to give up one of the safest House seats in the nation to challenge Heller next year.

Lesson learned: You never know when a door will open that will require you to make an all-in decision, so always be prepared to do it.

And Heller’s appointment sparked a race to fill his seat in the House, where members must be elected. After a legal skirmish over the election process, former state Sen. Mark Amodei crushed Treasurer Kate Marshall. That happened even though Marshall campaigned to the right, coming out against taxes and saying she’d have voted against a 2003 tax deal.

Lesson learned: Given a choice between a real Republican such as Amodei (even though he voted for taxes in the past) and a Democrat running as a faux Republican, the GOP will go with the real deal every time.

Las Vegas saw its first interesting mayoral race in 2011 since Oscar Goodman began his tenure as the city’s most popular elected official. And the race was over the moment Goodman’s wife, Carolyn, filed her papers.

It’s not that Carolyn Goodman faced the no-name, no-chance candidates who squared off against her husband in his re-elections, either. Clark County Commissioners Larry Brown and Chris Giunchigliani would both have made excellent mayors. Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross had the experience to take over the top job, too.

Lesson learned: There’s no beating the Goodman name. (But here, a small caveat: Just 18.9 percent of Las Vegas’ eligible voters actually turned out to cast ballots. Of that, 60.5 percent voted for Carolyn Goodman. So she was elected by just a small percentage of the city’s population.)

The Nevada Legislature narrowly averted disaster, and not for the usual reason — a last-minute deal crafted by state Sen. Bill Raggio. He was unavailable, having resigned after the Republican caucus threw a political temper tantrum and replaced him as leader.

Without Raggio’s influence, Republicans and Democrats essentially flung talking points at each other. Sandoval refused to consider new taxes, and Democrats condemned the governor’s budget as dead on arrival. Things went that way until the state Supreme Court declared that the theft of funds from a local government entity was an unconstitutional special tax, and denied lawmakers the use of that money.

Overnight, compromise came to the capital. Sandoval agreed to extend expiring taxes, Democrats declared victory and went home. But few realize how close we came to an epic Nevada-style train wreck.

Lesson learned: Avoid signing pledges or making absolute statements, because you never know when circumstances will change.

I’ll be taking a couple of weeks off between now and the end of the year. I’ll be back in January. Until then, have a merry Christmas, a happy new year and, as always, thanks for reading.

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