Rumors swirl around Del Papa

Cy Ryan and Jeff German

Monday, Aug. 2, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

Nevada's congressional delegation was buzzing in Washington all weekend with speculation that Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa was getting ready to bow out of the U.S. Senate race in 2000.

The talk created concern within the camp of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who threw his support early to Del Papa in her bid to succeed Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who's retiring.

Reid declined comment this morning, and Del Papa could not be reached for comment. But on Friday, Del Papa denied that she was withdrawing from the race.

Late last week, however, after filing campaign finance reports in Carson City, Del Papa voiced frustration about lagging far behind the leading Republican candidate in the bid for campaign dollars.

"The most frustrating thing you have to do is raise money," Del Papa said, noting that she finds it discouraging that a candidate has to put so much time in collecting money, rather than talking about the issues.

Del Papa voiced similar concerns last year when she dropped out of the governor's race after having trouble raising money.

In the Senate campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday, Del Papa raised $252,233, while Republican John Ensign has collected over $1.2 million.

The largest donation to the Del Papa campaign came from the Democratic Senatorial Political Action Committee for $16,500. Del Papa said Reid shook that money loose.

"Harry is held in high regard back there," she said.

Gaming casinos, their executives and families contributed about 20 percent of the attorney general's money.

In contrast, Ensign collected about 35 percent from the gambling industry.

Both candidates believe they will have to spend $4 million to $5 million to win the seat being vacated by Bryan.

Two other potential candidates are watching closely whether Del Papa drops out.

Personal injury lawyer Ed Bernstein, a Democrat, and Sun Editor Brian Greenspun, a Republican, are said to be eyeing the race. Greenspun has been considering switching to the Democrats.

As Del Papa has struggled to raise money, she also has failed to win the support of organized labor in her Senate bid. Culinary Workers Local 226 in Las Vegas, the largest and most politically active union in the state, has refused to endorse her.

Del Papa also has come under fire for conducting secret background checks on two prominent Democrats, former Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible and Frank Schreck, a well-know gaming attorney and party fund-raiser.

Thomas Biggar, a discovery commissioner in District Court, said recently the checks appeared to have been done as part of an intelligence investigation of top gaming regulators.

Biggar, who oversees the sharing of evidence in civil cases, has been reviewing records he believes confirm the existence of an intelligence probe. Del Papa has denied conducting such an inquiry.

But Biggar has scheduled a hearing Friday to decide which records to give to a former Del Papa investigator suing the attorney general over the intelligence probe.

Del Papa's campaign finance report, meanwhile, showed the attorney general has received $50,250 from the gaming industry, but she hasn't been able to tap into the big bucks on the Las Vegas Strip.

Del Papa said the campaign raised a little bit, but quipped it was only a "hairline fracture."

The political action committee at Mirage Resorts Inc., chipped in $10,000; contributions of $5,000 each came from Boyd Gaming and the employees political action committee of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., and International Gaming Technology contributed $2,000.

The Carano family, owners of the El Dorado hotel-casino in Reno, gave $4,000. John Gaughan, general manager of the El Cortez in Las Vegas, contributed $2,000 and M. P. Gaughan and Michael Gaughan of Coast Resorts donated $1,000 each.

Susan Tompkins, director of community affairs for the Lady Luck Casino, also donated $2,000, as did Herb Tobman, owner of Western Cab Co., and Bette Sawyer, the widow of former Gov. Grant Sawyer.