Reid raises $6.2 million for his re-election campaign

Suzanne Struglinski and Kirsten Searer

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

WASHINGTON --- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has raised $6.2 million for his re-election campaign, while Republican opponent Richard Ziser has about $121,000, according to campaign representatives.

A Reid spokesman said the three-term senator and Democratic whip hopes to raise a total of $10 million so he and his volunteers can reach out to Nevada's newest residents.

"You have a changing state, a lot of moving in and out of the state," said spokesman Sean Sinclair. "It is going to be important that we're able to fund an aggressive grassroots campaign and go to everyone's door and talk to them about Sen. Reid's campaign."

Ziser donated about half of the $121,000 in his campaign coffers, said campaign consultant Steve Wark.

The retired businessman, who once chaired the Nevada Coalition for the Protection of Marriage, donated the money to get the campaign rolling, Wark said.

"Richard Ziser is fortunate enough to be able to seed his campaign with his own money in order to kick off a campaign," Wark said.

Ziser once owned Casino Tokins Inc., which produced many of the coins used in Nevada casinos.

Candidates vying for federal office in November's election need to file 2003 Year-end reports with the Federal Election Commission by Saturday.

According to an early copy of Reid's report, released by his campaign Thursday, the senator raised $1.1 million in the last three months on 2003. He has $4.3 million cash on hand.

"Money is vitally important," said Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "It's a test of strength and viability. But races take more than just money. It's character, resume, integrity, plans for the future, demographics. They all play an important role."

But a senate candidate probably only needs about $3 million or $4 million to run a solid campaign in Nevada, said UNLV political science professor Ted Jelen.

Raising so much money accomplishes two things for Reid, Jelen said: It scares off potential challengers and sends a message that Reid doesn't want this re-election to be as close as his 1998 race.

"I think he's going to run full till from start to finish, even if his opponent is Charles Manson," Jelen said.

Reid beat his present colleague, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., by just 428 votes in 1998. Ensign won Nevada's other senate seat in 2000 and is not up for re-election until 2006.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who had expressed interest in challenging Reid, announced in August that he won't jump into the race, though he said he opted out of the race so he could focus on House committees fighting terrorism.

Despite Ziser's smaller war chest, Wark argued that fund-raising has just begun. Once Ziser raises about $1.5 million to prove the validity of his candidacy, Wark said, Ziser will get more attention -- and more money -- from Republican donors nationwide.

"We know that if we raise a million and a half dollars just within our own campaign, that other major Republican sources will then go out and begin fund-raising efforts to bring the Ziser campaign up to the level to be competitive from a resource standpoint," Wark said.

State Treasurer Brian Krolicki is still exploring a run against Reid and has been talking with Republican leaders in Nevada and Washington.