Governor repeatedly sent woman text messages

Gov. Jim Gibbons, who wants a divorce from first lady Dawn Gibbons, used his state-owned cell phone to send more than 860 text messages in one month last year to a woman he describes as a longtime friend, according to documents obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The records reveal a flurry of text messages between Gibbons and a cell phone owned by the estranged wife of a Reno doctor. Gibbons has been seen in Reno on several outings with the woman since his marital troubles with Dawn Gibbons became public.

In a court brief filed two weeks ago, Dawn Gibbons accused her husband of ending their 22-year marriage because of his "infatuation and involvement" with the wife of a Reno doctor. That woman has never been officially named by Dawn Gibbons or her lawyer.

Gibbons accrued hefty cell phone bills in March 2007 and April 2007, when he exchanged the text messages with the woman. Because the state didn't have a text messaging plan, the charge was 15 cents for each message. For period in which the messages were sent, the total bill was $130.

A spokesman said Gibbons reimbursed the state for the charges.

The text messages occurred throughout the day and night, on weekends and work days. On one Friday, for example, Gibbons exchanged 160 text messages with the woman starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 11:45 p.m. On another night, Gibbons exchanged 91 messages between midnight and 2 a.m. with her. The content of the messages is unavailable.

The records also revealed 42 phone calls between Gibbons and the woman, mostly on the weekends and evenings. The records include two lengthy phone calls during working hours.