Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) Elected 1998, 4th term
Born:	Jan. 20, 1951, South Fallsburg, NY
Home:	Las Vegas
Education:	U.N.L.V., B.A. 1972; U. of San Diego Law Schl., J.D. 1976
Religion:	Jewish
Marital Status:	married (Larry Lehrner)
Elected  Office:	NV Assembly, 1982-84; Regent, U. Commun. Col. System of NV, 1990-98.
Professional Career:	Cnsl., SW Gas Corp., 1977-82; VP, Sands Hotel, 1989-98; Chair, NV Hotel & Motel Assn., 1994.
DC Office	439 CHOB20515, 202-225-5965; Fax: 202-225-3119; Web site: www.house.gov/berkley
State Offices	Las Vegas, 702-220-9823.
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Las Vegas, a city whose garishness and sheer improbability is literally awesome, had a fittingly colorful beginning. It began as a Paiute Indian settlement that in the late 1700s served as a watering stop for Spanish priests making the 1,200-mile trek between New Mexico and California. By the 1800s, the Old Spanish Trail, as it came to be known, was used by horse and mule smugglers, by white explorers like John Fremont and by Mormon emigrants heading west. Las Vegas was still a small crossroads when Nevada, its mining industry a shambles, legalized gambling in the 1930s. The WPA Guide to Nevada, published in 1940, when the city had 10,000 people, describes a prim Las Vegas: "Relatively little emphasis is placed on the gambling clubs and divorce facilities--though they are attractions to many visitors--and much effort is being made to build up cultural attractions. No cheap and easily parodied slogans have been adopted to publicize the city, no attempt has been made to introduce pseudo-romantic architectural themes, or to give an artificial glamour or gaiety."

All that changed big-time after World War II, when gangster Bugsy Siegel built the Flamingo hotel on what became The Strip south of the city limits. Pseudo-romantic architectural themes became the order of the day (you find flamingoes in the waters of Florida, not in the deserts of Nevada) and one casino followed another. Organized crime provided much of the money and muscle for Las Vegas, and investment capital came from Teamsters pension funds. That changed in the late 1960s, when the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes moved into the Desert Inn, bought most of the casinos and hired Mormons to run them. Then Hughes abruptly left town, most of his hotels eventually were torn down, and other operators built casinos like Caesars Palace and Circus Circus, the Mirage and Excalibur, the lavish Bellagio and Venetian. In the 1970s, the casinos were the haven of flashy high rollers, of Frank Sinatra and girl shows. Since the 1990s, diversification has been the buzz. Las Vegas produced more family-oriented entertainment, shopping, and even high art, with the Bellagio's museum-quality art collection on view, and Las Vegas built the biggest convention center in the country. But recent promotions have sounded a naughtier theme, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." The scent of the underworld has not entirely disappeared; the flashy Oscar Goldman, a former Mob lawyer who was hired for his first job by Arlen Specter in the Philadelphia district attorney's office, was elected mayor and actively promoted the city. After September 11, 15,000 casino workers were laid off in the downturn but Vegas recovered smartly and remains one of the great leisure destinations in the world. Since the 1960s, it has grown faster than any other metropolitan area in the nation. After a monorail that runs parallel to the strip opened in July 2004, the "monofail" closed in September for major repairs, and reopened for Christmas.

The 1st Congressional District of Nevada consists of the inner core of Las Vegas that visitors are most likely to see. They cross into it as soon as they drive their rental cars out of the lot at McCarran International Airport and remain in the 1st as they cruise down Las Vegas Boulevard. On the three-mile Strip you can find 8 of the world's 10 largest hotels, each with thousands of rooms. North of Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas Boulevard enters the city of Las Vegas, the older and less glamorous part of town, although the city has moved to renovate downtown. The 1st continues north for another dozen miles through the housing developments and scrubland that follow the U.S. 95 and Interstate 15 diagonals, to include the sizable Hispanic and black communities of North Las Vegas. The 1st is home to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and includes the Clark County Government Center, a circular sandstone complex whose beautiful Indian-inspired architecture is a testament to the power of the gambling dollar. The population of the 1st in 2000 was 12% black and 28% Hispanic, with a high percentage of union members; more than 80,000 Jews live in the area, supporting 18 synagogues and a Kosher supermarket. Overall, this is a safely Democratic district.

The congresswoman from the 1st District is Shelley Berkley, a Democrat first elected in 1998. Berkley was born on the Lower East Side of New York, and moved to Las Vegas as a child. "I am not a politician who happens to be Jewish. I am a Jew who happens to be in politics." Her parents emigrated from eastern Europe before World War II, and her father worked at the Sands and rose to maitre d'; she waited tables and was a keno runner as she made her way through the UNLV, where she was student body president, and the University of San Diego law school. She chaired the Nevada Hotel and Motel Association, was government and legal affairs vice president at the Sands and in-house counsel at Southwest Gas. She was elected to one term in the state House. In 1990, she was appointed to the University of Nevada Board of Regents and then was elected to two terms.

After the 1996 election, she decided to run in the 1st District. Incumbent Republican John Ensign, reelected by only 50%-44% after spending $1.9 million, decided to run against Senator Harry Reid, and Berkley--brassy, direct, effusive--seemed headed for victory. Republicans lacked a serious candidate until filing day in May 1998; 15 minutes before the deadline, Judge Donald Chairez resigned his post and filed for the seat. Then in June came a bombshell. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on tapes of Berkley's May 1997 telephone conversations to a friend and texts of a memo she sent the Sands's owner Sheldon Adelson when he was seeking approvals for his Venetian megahotel. They showed her advising him to make campaign contributions to local judges to curry favor and to grant concessions to Clark County commissioners to get their votes for approval. Adelson fired Berkley. She quickly apologized; the Clark County district attorney saw no cause for prosecution. But Chairez made his slogan, "Fairness, not favors!" With strong support from the gaming industry, Berkley outspent Chairez by $1.2 million to $554,000. She won narrowly, 49%-46%.

In the House, Berkley's voting record has been moderate. She keeps a close watch on the interests of the gaming industry. She led opposition in the House to a proposal by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to bar Nevada casinos from accepting bets on college sports. With the state's bipartisan delegation, she fought the plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Berkley forcefully backed George W. Bush on the use of force in Iraq, but later in July 2004 said that she was misled by phony intelligence and called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. She fought for homeland security money for Las Vegas as a terrorist target.

Berkley has had tough re-election campaigns. In 2000, state Senator Jon Porter revived the 1998 controversy by attacking her for her conversations and notes to Adelson. Both candidates spent heavily, with Porter helped by pharmaceutical firms. Berkley won 52%-44%; in 2002 Porter ran and won in the new 3d District. That year Republicans nominated Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs-McDonald, a former Miss Oregon and former Democrat, who hoped to become the first Republican black woman elected to the House. Boggs-McDonald was well-funded and had strong support from anti-abortion groups; she attacked Berkley for voting for spending bills that included money for the Yucca Mountain repository. But redistricting had removed many suburban precincts, and Berkley won 54%-43%. She was reelected easily in 2004.

Committees

• International Relations (16th of 23 D): Europe & Emerging Threats; Middle East & Central Asia.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (20th of 34 D): Aviation; Highways, Transit & Pipelines.
• Veterans' Affairs (11th of 12 D): Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs (RMM).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	95	65	100	100	75	16	60	8	3	10	--
2003	85	--	100	65	--	24	36	23	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	69%	--	31%		68%	--	32%
Social	70%	--	29%		78%	--	19%
Foreign	69%	--	30%		68%	--	30%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability N  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Shelley Berkley (D)	133,569	66%	$1,248,297
	Russ Mickelson (R)	63,005	31%	$17,662
	Other	5,862	3%
2004 primary	Shelley Berkley (D)	27,765	83%
	Ann Reynolds (D)	3,208	10%
	Brian Kral (D)	2,412	7%
2002 general	Shelley Berkley (D)	64,312	54%	$1,717,220
	Lynette Boggs McDonald (R)	51,148	43%	$983,110
	Other	4,254	4%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (52%); 1998 (49%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 121,453 (57%) Bush (R) 89,800 (41%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 87,345 (56%) Bush (R) 63,163 (41%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the First District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 9
• District Size: 177 square miles
• Population in 2000: 666,088; 99.9% urban; 0.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $39,480; 13.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 23.0% blue collar; 47.8% white collar; 29.2% gray collar; 14.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 51.5% White, 11.9% Black, 4.6% Asian, 0.6% Amer. Indian, 0.4% Hawaiian, 2.6% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 28.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 8.8% German, 7.1% Irish, 5.9% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.