Gallagher scores big win with 69 percent of vote

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

There were no major shocks in this year's primary races for federal seats -- Tuesday's successful candidates hope the surprises will come in November when they overtake incumbents.

Democrat Tom Gallagher easily cruised to victory in the 3rd Congressional District, where he edged five other Democratic candidates with 69.5 percent of the votes cast in Clark County.

He'll face Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., in the Nov. 2 general election. Porter did not face a challenger in the Republican primary.

And Republican Richard Ziser won 33 percent of the vote in another crowded primary race for the U.S. Senate. Ziser hopes to topple Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in November.

Pundits have joked that Gallagher will show up to any event with five or more people, including the smallest of community gatherings. But the hard work appeared to pay off on Tuesday night when Gallagher won easily.

He called his full-time campaigning "fun" and said he feels a swell of support among Democrats who are looking for a change in Congress.

"There was such a clear mandate for change, not just among Democrats, but among independents as well," he said.

That could prove vital in this congressional district, where Democrats have only recently taken an advantage in voter registration numbers. They now hold a 3,274 voter edge, and there are 52,817 non-partisan voters registered in the district.

Gallagher has made health care, especially the Medicare prescription drug plan, the cornerstone of his campaign, saying that Porter helped support a prescription drug plan that must be overhauled.

"The thing was a boondoggle for the drug companies and it's an outrage," Gallagher said. "It should be repealed."

He also said he'll focus on funding education and supporting troops.

Ziser won handily over second place Kenneth Wegner' 21,325 votes and 17 percent.

Robert "Bob" Brown, with 19,504 votes, 16 percent, took third Brown is a Florida resident who doesn't have a Nevada address. Wegner is a disabled veteran who has run a conservative campaign of placing troops on the border and mandating that English be spoken in the country.

Ziser blamed Wegner's percentage on the candidate's radio ads run in smaller Northern Nevada districts. Brown, he said, had the advantage of appearing first on the ballot.

Still, Ziser conceded he still has work to do on improving his name recognition before the Nov. 2 election.

"We concentrated on building our base," Ziser said.

If he can gain name recognition, he said, he will beat Reid on issues such as lowering taxes and protecting marriage. Ziser was the architect of the Nevada's constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

"We know it's just a matter of getting the message out," he said. "As long as we can get the message out, we can beat this guy."

Also on Tuesday, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., cruised to an easy victory in the 1st Congressional District. She picked up 80 percent, to Ann Reynolds' 9 percent and Brian Kral's 7 percent.

Berkley will face Republican Russ Mickelson, a part-time instructor, in the general election. Mickelson won an easy Republican nomination with 61 percent of the vote, 11,868, compared to Lewis Byer's 25 percent and Francisco Tamez's 10 percent.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., did not face a Republican primary challenger in the 2nd Congressional District.

Angie Cochran, a small business owner, barely won the Democratic primary, 17,595 to 17,119 for David Jerome Bennett, a computer programmer.

Results in that race and the Senate primaries included only 70 percent of the vote in Washoe County.