Gephardt in LV to give Berkley boost

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, April 19, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt will be the guest speaker in Las Vegas today at a fund-raiser for Rep. Shelley Berkley.

The high-profile Missouri lawmaker will be featured at a $1,000-per-person reception at 5:30 p.m. at the MGM Grand.

It is the first major fund-raiser for the 2002 re-election campaign by Berkley, D-Nev. Gaming industry executives, business leaders and lobbyists are expected to attend.

The event aims to raise at least $75,000 in "hard money" -- contributions limited to $1,000 from individuals to a certain candidate, a Democratic source said. It falls about three weeks after the Senate banned "soft money" donations -- unlimited corporate gifts made mostly to political parties and often used to finance expensive issue advertising.

The House has yet to approve the soft money ban, but the threat of it becoming law has forced politicians to rethink their fund-raising habits. Without soft money, they will rely more on the regulated hard-money donations.

Pending House action on the campaign finance bill, many lawmakers in the narrowly divided Congress already have begun raising both hard and soft money for their November 2002 races. Candidates must file their first of two semi-annual campaign money reports with the Federal Election Commission by July 31, and candidates like to fill their war chests early to intimidate challengers.

Gephardt also was expected today to meet with gaming leaders for a "significant roundtable discussion," Berkley's chief of staff, Richard Urey, said. The topic: a looming battle in Congress over a bill that would outlaw betting on college sports in Nevada sports books.

Nevada lawmakers are waging a lobbying effort against the legislation and have enlisted Gephardt's support for their alternative bill.

That bill calls for a study of gambling by college students and requires universities to pursue anti-gambling initiatives.