Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.
A blurry black-and-white photo of Democrat Tom Gallagher hovers on the screen, looking ghost-like.
"Meet the real Tom Gallagher," a new television ad states ominously. "A California millionaire who rented a home in Henderson where he never lived or voted before -- just to run for Congress."
Gallagher, a former gaming executive, has pumped at least $300,000 of his own money into a campaign to unseat incumbent Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.
Until now, Porter held on to his $1.1 million in campaign funds. But Porter recently started spending, launching a mixture of ads, some that tout his long record of service in Nevada and others that take stinging swipes at Gallagher.
Gallagher, a political novice, has no votes to criticize. So Porter's campaign is looking into Gallagher's long career in business.
"It's going to be a spirited campaign," said Porter campaign consultant Mike Slanker.
On Monday, the Gallagher campaign retorted by pointing to their new poll, which shows Porter ahead of Gallagher by just three percentage points, 47 percent to 44 percent.
Nine percent of the 405 likely voters polled were undecided, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The campaign's poll puts Gallagher in a much tighter race than other recent polls, which have found a larger gap. But Gallagher has made a significant dent in Porter's lead by most accounts.
The numbers, said Gallagher spokeswoman Mara Gassmann, are making the Porter campaign nervous enough to turn negative.
"This is a really, really negative ad for an incumbent to come out with in this stage of the game," Gassmann said. "I don't know of any incumbent who has an ad this negative at this point in time. The reason for that is he's running scared."
According to Gallagher's campaign poll, Porter's lead has closed from 27 percent in April and 6 percent in July.
Slanker said his campaign hasn't done a poll recently but he expects the numbers are close. Porter could hold as little as a single-digit lead, he said.
Another part of the new ad says, "Who is Tom Gallagher? A failed gaming executive from California who owns a home in Palm Springs.
"Gallagher, a former lawyer for big oil, nuclear waste and the Saudi royal family.
"Four months ago, Gallagher rented a home in Henderson, where he never lived or voted before -- just to run for Congress."
The Porter campaign is simply letting Nevada voters know about Gallagher, who has been running ads for four months, Slanker said.
Slanker pointed to Gallagher's tenure with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, a large law firm with offices around the world.
While Gallagher worked for the firm it represented Unocal, a major domestic oil company, and Edison Electric, which owns nuclear power plants, Slanker said.
"He was a gaming CEO who was let go and we know he was a big corporate lawyer for a lot of years," Slanker said. "All of his ads profess that he's for the little guy. I find that a little hard to stomach."
For a few years, Gallagher did head the law firm's Riyadh office, where he represented the interests of the Saudi royal family, Gassmann said.
Gassmann said that Gallagher only represented entertainment mogul Merv Griffin from 1988 to 1992, when Gallagher left the company to work for Griffin. He did not represent the oil or nuclear interests, she said.
But Gallagher was a key figure in the firm, which had accounts with the special interests, Slanker said.
"He was a partner," Slanker said.
Gassmann said there were 800 attorneys and 300 partners at the firm while Gallagher was there.
"(Gallagher) never ever worked in any way for Edison or Unocal or any company that the Porter campaign cites in its ad -- never," Gassmann said.
Years later, Gallagher became the chief executive of Park Place Entertainment, now Caesars Entertainment, where he lasted for just two years. He often points out in speeches that he headed the company during the difficult times after Sept. 11, 2001.
"The fact is that the strategic plan that Caesars is now operating under and doing really, really well under is the strategic plan that Tom created and implemented," Gassmann said, pointing to Gallagher's vision for a new the new Colosseum and the Margaritaville restaurant at the Flamingo.
Gallagher does rent a home in Henderson, Gassmann said. He lived just a few miles outside of the district and decided to rent a home while he campaigns and contemplates building a home in the district, she said.
Despite the new Porter ads, Gassmann said the campaign is buoyed by the new poll numbers.
A memo put out by the Gallagher campaign said a poll of 405 likely voters in the district found Gallagher held a lead, 51 percent to 41 percent, among voters familiar with both candidates.
And, it said, Gallgher leads Porter on "issues critical to voters" such as lowering the cost of prescription drugs (Gallagher leads, 37 percent to 19 percent) and fighting Yucca Mountain (Gallagher leads, 35 percent to 15 percent).
archive
