Gallagher loans campaign $100,000

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Tom Gallagher, candidate for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, wrote himself a check for $100,000 Monday, and Senate Republican candidate Richard Ziser gave himself $20,000 last week, according to campaign finance records.

With five days to go until the election, candidates are getting last-minute cash for a final push in their campaigns.

Last Thursday congressional candidates filed a report with the Federal Elections Commission on all donations received through Oct. 13 and now must file "48-hour notices" within two days of receiving donations of $1,000 or more up until the election.

A notice from Gallagher filed Wednesday showed a $100,000 loan from himself to his campaign made Monday. This is in addition to a $200,000 loan he made to the campaign earlier this month, according to the last FEC report filed. He has received roughly $217,000 in contributions since Oct. 1, although this does not include some contributions under $1,000. Those do not have to be reported until after the election.

The candidate has loaned about $750,000 to his campaign, but money leftover after the election can be paid back to himself. Gallagher's campaign manager Josh Geise said the money will be used for more ads, direct mail and "everything else it takes to run a campaign."

Gallagher, a Democrat, is running against Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. Porter has raised just over $230,000 since Oct. 1 and has not made any donations to his own campaign. Gallagher's and Porter's late contributions come from local contributors as well Congressional candidates campaigns in other states and Political Action Committees.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., raised an additional $60,000 since Oct. 16 while his challenger Republican Richard Ziser gave himself $20,000 last week, according to the commission's records, on top of $12,000 in additional campaign contributions Ziser has received since Oct. 1.