Four Nevada delegates list assets topping $1 million

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, May 20, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- At least four members of Nevada's congressional delegation have more than $1 million in assets and income, according to financial disclosure reports released Thursday.

The exact values of the delegation's financial holdings are impossible to know because the reports list their assets values in broad ranges in increments between $1,000 and $50 million. For example, the lawmakers check a box for holdings between $50,000 and $100,000 or $100,000 and $250,000.

The lawmakers also do not have report their value of their personal homes, but do have to list any mortgage loans they have.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is worth between $3.7 million and $14 million based on her assets coupled with her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner's medical practice.

Berkley listed between $15,000 and $50,000 in a mortgage in Las Vegas, and between $250,000 and $500,000 on a mortgage for her home on Capitol Hill as liabilities, as well as between $15,000 and $50,000 on an AT&T Mastercard.

Berkley and Lehrner reimbursed the Aspen Institute for a May 2004 trip to Barcelona, Spain.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has roughly $1.3 million to $3 million in assets alone spread over several stocks including Best Buy, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Anheuser-Busch.

Reid made 12 speeches in 2004 various groups including the Distilled Spirits Council and the National Hotel Alliance. Reid was "paid" $2,000 for each speech, but the money was donated to an unnamed charity or charities. The report does not list where the donated money specifically goes.

Reid's report also lists that he sits on the boards of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Holocaust Museum and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has assets between $1.1 million and $2.3 million.

He lists the E&P Partnership, the building and land for his Las Vegas clinic, South Shores Animal Hospital, as his biggest asset, between $500,000 and $1 million but also as a liability of the same amount due to the outstanding mortgage.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., has assets valued between $1.5 million to $6.3 million based on estimates in his report, including ownership of several condo units in Boulder City. He lists two mortgages between $100,000 and $250,000 each. Porter reimbursed the National Workforce Association for a trip to St.Petersburg, Fla., last December and an education conference in March.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., will file his report on June 14, according to spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer.