Gibbons trails Reid in funds

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., posted a meager second-quarter fund-raising report Tuesday compared to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the man he may challenge in next year's election.

Gibbons intends to announce next month whether he will challenge Reid for his Senate seat, but in the all-important arena of campaign fund-raising, Gibbons netted just $127,797 in April, May and June, compared to Reid's $1.2 million in the same period.

Gibbons now has $515,321 cash on hand. Reid has $3.1 million.

"I am very proud of the support I have received from across the country, across Nevada, and across party lines," Reid said in a press release.

Gibbons, 58, is considered the most likely Republican to unseat Reid in what would probably be the most interesting and most fiercely contested Nevada congressional race next year. He has said he faced a difficult decision that he would make in close consultation with his family. Gibbons' wife, Dawn, is a member of the state Assembly.

Dan Allen, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said a lot of Republican donors nationwide are eager to give money to Gibbons if he is willing to take on Reid. Reid's votes were out of synch with Nevadans, he said.

"Congressman Gibbons is somebody who, if you look at the polling, it shows he could make this a very competitive race," Allen said.

Eric Herzik, political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said Gibbons' numbers indicated that he hasn't yet started fund-raising in earnest.

"For whatever reason, Gibbons has not plunged in, even though Republicans expect him to," Herzik said. "And Reid has just continued to pile up the money ... like one of those squirrels who's out there collecting nuts all summer long."

During the war on Iraq Gibbons stopped raising money. Reid did not.

In a statement, Gibbons said his campaign committee would continue to seek funding.

"Though we did not set specific fund-raising goals at the beginning of the year, we are right about where we figured to be after the first two quarters of 2003," Gibbons said.

Gibbons' campaign staff filed the second quarter report at the end of the day Tuesday in the final moments before it was due to the Federal Elections Commission. Gibbons spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said that was because campaign money managers were tallying up a busy month of fund-raising, and because of some technical glitches in filing the report electronically with the FEC.

Reid, 63, is clearly telegraphing a message that he will not repeat campaign mistakes of the past. The press release specifically noted that he has now raised about eight times as much money as he did in the first six months of 1997, the year before his last election, a race he won by only 428 votes.

"We are right where we want to be," Reid campaign manager Sean Sinclair said in the written statement. "And we have already enlisted hundreds of volunteers, who will serve as the foundation of our large and aggressive grassroots campaign."

Getting the money early is a key in any campaign.

In the last Senate race in Nevada, in which John Ensign defeated attorney Ed Bernstein in 2000 for an open seat, Ensign spent $5.6 million, according to campaign reports. Bernstein spent nearly $2.5 million.

But Herzik predicted that Reid's aggressive fund-raising could come back to haunt him, particularly in light of a recent Los Angeles Times article that questioned whether his family ties were influencing his political decisions.

"If I were a Republican strategist, I'd be designing some negative campaign ads highlighting the amount of money he's collected and who he's collected it from," Herzik said.

But Reid campaign manager Sinclair said Reid has collected money from supporters who appreciate what he does for Nevada, including notable Republicans such as gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf.

Reid's staff dismissed the Times article after it was published last month and said Reid's advocacy for Nevada on a range of issues had nothing to do with the influence of the lobby firms his four sons work for.

"Going after a reputable senator's family can backfire," Sinclair said.

Herzik said Reid's money lead might prove less important than the political boost Gibbons has received from the state Supreme Court's controversial decision to waive the two-thirds majority requirement for raising taxes.

"Three weeks ago the tax restraint initiative (that Gibbons spearheaded) was being blamed for deadlocking the government," Herzik said. "In one poorly written court decision, the Nevada Supreme Court turns Gibbons back into a hero."

Reid is running for his fourth six-year term. Gibbons is in his fourth two-year term in the House.

Likely viable contenders for the seats of Berkley and Porter in their 2004 re-elections have not yet emerged.

Sun reporter

Will Oremus contributed to this report.