Ensign: Voters who liked Reid’s seniority will back me this time

Scott Sonner

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 9:34 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Republican John Ensign kicks off his second U.S. Senate campaign Monday with a new focus on nuclear waste and without a Democratic opponent who can call on the power of incumbency that helped doom his last bid.

Ensign, who lost to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid by 428 votes in 1998, predicts he'll gain the support of many swing voters who backed Reid because of his seniority and political clout.

Reid, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, is now the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

This time, the former-Rep. Ensign is expected to face Democratic lawyer Ed Bernstein, a relative political unknown outside Las Vegas, in the general election in November to replace retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev.

"Harry had a lot of loyal relationships. There were a lot of swing voters who thought Harry's seniority was very important, Ensign said in an interview before his formal campaign kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. at an elementary school in Reno.

"We are using the argument now that a small state needs somebody in the majority to protect Nevada against nuclear waste, to protect our state's water and make sure we get a fair share of federal dollars," he said.

In the last race, Reid and other Democrats constantly hammered on the claim that their success in securing enough Democratic opposition in the Senate was the only reason the GOP-led Congress was unable to pass a Yucca Mountain bill shipping nuclear waste to Nevada.

"A vote for Ensign is a vote for putting nuclear waste in Nevada," Reid said during the last campaign.

Ensign argued last time that Nevada would be better represented with a senator who was in the majority party. He's taking the argument a step further this time, saying the Democrats are on Nevada's side, now its time to change the minds of some Republicans.

Reid and Bryan have done a commendable job "getting most of the Democrats to vote with them," Ensign said in an interview.

"Harry is going to be able to hold only the Democrats. We need somebody in the Senate to go to work with the Republicans because right now we only have two Republicans who work with us and vote with us," he said.

Ensign said he tried to make that case last time.

"But we didn't have the resources. We were outspent in that campaign 2-to-1," he said.

Ensign said he wasn't sure he would outspend Bernstein, but "I don't expect to be outspent 2-to-1."

Ensign planned a second announcement of his candidacy at 5:30 p.m. in Las Vegas Monday, with a tour of rural Nevada planned next week.

Bernstein plans a formal announcement of his candidacy March 13.