Census gives Nevada third representative

RENO - Nevada will get a new representative in Congress and another vote in the Electoral College thanks to nearly 800,000 new residents to move here over the past 10 years.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Thursday that he was looking forward to redistricting.

"An additional member of Congress for Nevada will help our bipartisan delegation work to protect our important economic industries, such as gaming and mining," he said. "A third representative will also help us fight against efforts to ship and store high-level nuclear waste in Nevada."

Nevada recorded the largest rate of population gain nationwide - 66.3 percent since 1990 - meaning it will pick up one seat in Congress, initial Census Bureau results released Thursday show.

Nevada's population is 1,998,257, compared with 1,201,833 in 1990, according to the Census Bureau's preliminary count of the 2000 population.

Most congressional districts have from 600,000 to 700,000 residents.

''Historically, we've always been gaining population,'' said Jeff Hardcastle, state demographer. ''We've been one of the fastest growing states decade to decade after 1930. We've been doubling or close to it every year.''

That growth, which is concentrated in Southern Nevada, means ''it's vitally important that we pick up another seat,'' said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Nevada's delegation to Washington, D.C., which includes Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and newly elected John Ensign, R-Nev., wants to make sure it is not overshadowed by larger states on such crucial issues as where to store the nation's nuclear waste and a proposed ban on college betting.

It's a given the new seat will represent at least a portion of Clark County, the state's most populous area with an estimated 70 percent of the population. But where the final district lines will be drawn is anybody's guess.

Gibbons, who represents mainly rural areas, would like to see the state's three congressional districts share urban and rural areas.

''There's an opportunity here to add strength to the rural voice that Nevada has right now,'' he said Thursday. ''A majority of Clark County is still rural.''

But Berkley, who represents urban Las Vegas and the nation's largest congressional district with more than 1 million residents, thinks that combination would be disastrous.

''To divide Clark County into three separate congressional districts, which would include some of the most rural parts of state, would be a profound mistake,'' she said. ''The rural areas would receive almost no representation and the urban areas would be divided so you couldn't give full attention to the inner city problems.''

Another proposal, which Berkley supports, would create a ''suburban district'' for the state's new seat. Her 1st District seat would become a doughnut hole, while the ''suburban'' seat would ring Las Vegas and possibly encompass Boulder City, Henderson, and master-planned communities like the Lakes, Desert Shores and Summerlin, Berkley said.

''It would be my hope that the Legislature would add the third congressional seat in southern Nevada and essentially take my district and split it in two,'' Berkley said.

Ultimately, the state Legislature will decide the boundaries.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, thinks all proposals are premature until the population numbers are complete in March.

Senate Majority Leader William Raggio, R-Reno, predicts Clark County will be divided into two separate Congressional districts. As for Gibbons' proposal, Raggio said dividing the state into three pie shapes would be gerrymandering.

''You'd have some ugly looking districts and the courts frown on that,'' he said.

Not much will be done concerning reapportionment until the latter part of the legislative session that begins Feb. 5, Perkins said.