Reid leads fund-raising field

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

With more than 10 months to go until Election Day, the Clark County Commission races are already poised to be among the most expensive in history.

Commissioner Erin Kenny, a Democrat with three Republican opponents for the District F seat, reported raising $480,400 last year for her re-election bid in a campaign document filed Tuesday with elections officials.

Kenny received support throughout the gaming and development communities, including $10,000 each from Park Place Entertainment, Olympia Land Corp., the Hughes Corp. and The Developers of Nevada.

She also reported expenses of $66,883, mostly related to advertising and consultants. One listed expense was a $1,500 payment to attorney Frank Cremen on Jan. 18.

Kenny listed that expense as consulting. Kenny retained Cremen to defend her against ethics allegations last year, but her report classifies the payment to Cremen as a consulting fee.

On the Republican side, Tim Cory was the nearest challenger with $104,000. Esther Quisenberry reported $79,000 and Devin Smith reported just more than $17,000.

With Clark County Chairman Dario Herrera running for Congress, the District G commission seat will be up for election this year as well.

But so far Republicans haven't fielded a candidate against the son of formidable fund-raiser U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Rory Reid reported raising $481,000 for the race with expenses of just under $25,000, mostly for consultants.

His donations come from throughout the state, including support from gaming, mining, developers, lawyers and utilities.

Three candidates for district attorney are proving they can also generate support.

Republican David Roger pulled in the most money at $148,314, including $1,000 from John Momot, the defense attorney Roger squared off against in the Binion trial.

Fellow Republican Abbe Silver reported raising just under $140,000 while Democrat Michael Davidson reported just under $100,000.

All three work in the district attorney's office and are seeking to replace Stuart Bell, who is stepping down.