LV residents give $4.8 million to federal campaigns

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Las Vegas residents have given $4.8 million to federal candidates for the upcoming November election, with donations reaching beyond the presidential race and local contests.

Las Vegans were the top givers in a report on political donations released Monday by PoliticalMoneyLine, an elecronic information service in Washington. The report showed Nevada donors gave $7.7 million to federal candidates, political action committees and political parties and their committees from Jan. 1, 2003 through Monday.

Henderson residents gave $733,476 in political donations, and North Las Vegans $32,990. Boulder City, which is just over one-tenth the size of North Las Vegas, according to the state demographer, outgave its larger neighbor, with $98,670.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was the biggest beneficiary among 57 Senate candidates who received Nevada money. Reid, who is running for re-election this year, received $879,402, compared with $376,063 for his Republican counterpart, Sen. John Ensign, whose term is not up until 2006.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., received just over $37,000 from Nevada donors, with New York Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, both Democrats, pulling in $34,000 and $22,000 respectively.

State donors gave Treasurer Brian Krolicki, who announced that he would not challenge Reid for his seat, $21,500. Richard Ziser, who is challenging Reid for the Senate, has $20,750 from local donors.

In the House, Nevadans have helped 93 campaigns, including re-election bids of Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

Berkley tops the list with more than $511,000 from Nevada donors. Porter received $360,000 and Gibbons has $236,000.

California Democrat Rep. Tom Lantos also received $31,150 from Nevada donors, follow by New York Democrat Anthony Weiner at $19,500.

In the presidential race Nevadans have donated $1.7 million to President Bush's re-election campaign.

Former presidential candidate Wesley Clark received the highest of the Democratic contenders, at $207,000. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., received $80,154 and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., received $40,100. Former candidates Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and Howard Dean, received $168,000 and $98,000 respectively.