Reid’s campaign fund closes in on $7 million

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, April 16, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., added $680,414 to his campaign fund since the start of 2004, bringing his total contributions to just over $6.8 million, according to a Federal Election Commission report filed Thursday.

The amount, revealed in quarterly reports showing campaign contributions and spending from January through the end of March, far outpaced his Republican challenger.

Republican Richard Ziser had $68,507 cash on hand. He received $31,244 in contributions since January, bringing his total contributions to $74,988. During the quarter Ziser loaned an additional $55,000 to the race, bringing loans made or guaranteed by the candidate to $230,000. He spent $140,000 in the period and $236,000 total on the campaign so far.

Reid had $4.6 million "cash-on-hand."

Meanwhile, Nevada Democrat Tom Gallagher raised almost $430,000 so far in his brief campaign against Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., for the state's 3rd Congressional District.

Gallagher announced his candidacy on March 18, so this is his first filing.

Gallagher, the former chief executive officer of Park Place Entertainment, now Caesars Entertainment, loaned the campaign $200,000 and received the balance in contributions, including $21,500 from political action committees.

Porter, a former state senator, raised $302,624 in the three months, which included a fund-raiser with Vice President Dick Cheney. He has raised $1.2 million so far for his campaign.

This is Porter's first re-election bid for the newly created 3rd District seat he won in 2002. He has $679,056 cash on hand.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., raised $170,041 since January, bringing her total campaign contributions to $1.2 million. She had just over $1 million cash on hand.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., raised $170,131 this quarter, making his contributions total $644,916 for this campaign. Gibbons had $553,787 cash on hand.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is not up for re-election until 2006.