Ensign’s dad says he supports Reid in bid for re-election

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 | 11:46 a.m.

Mandalay Resort Group executive Mike Ensign will support Sen. Harry Reid in his bid for re-election this year, even though Ensign's son, John, ran a close and sometimes contentious race against Reid in 1998.

"He's a wonderful man, and I'm grateful he would allow me to use his name," Reid said Wednesday of Mike Ensign's endorsement.

The race in 1998, when then-Rep. John Ensign challenged Reid, was tight, with Reid pulling out a 428-vote advantage.

Both political parties ran extensive advertising in the 1998 election, including one ad that attacked Reid as a "tax-and-spend" liberal, saying he had voted for $433 billion in new taxes in his congressional career.

"The senator, Sen. Ensign and Mike Ensign have all made peace with this a long time ago," Reid spokeswoman Megan Jones said. "They've been friends for many, many years."

This isn't the first time that Mike Ensign has lent support to Reid. Even in 1998, his company at the time, Circus-Circus Enterprises, gave Reid about $27,000. Circus-Circus also donated $78,400 to John Ensign's campaign that year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In the 1992 election, Mike Ensign and his wife, Sharon, as well as John Ensign and his wife, Darlene, each gave $2,000 contributions to Reid's campaign -- the maximum individual contribution allowed under federal law, Jones said.

Mike Sloan, a Mandalay senior vice president, said Mike Ensign told him he has supported Reid over the years but diverted in 1998 because he wanted to support his son.

"Those are not corporate decisions but personal decisions," Sloan said.

"I think people generally understand the importance of what Harry Reid has accomplished and will continue to accomplish, and that transcends partisan basis," Sloan said.

Ensign is one of about 100 prominent Republican community and business leaders who has pledged support to Reid this election season.