Tuesday, April 2, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The battle to control Congress will be waged in Rep. John Ensign's Las Vegas district.
But the first-term Republican hopes a fund-raising event featuring House Speaker Newt Gingrich will help blunt Democratic attacks.
Ensign has been targeted as the fourth most vulnerable freshman Republican in the House, according to statistics from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The rankings are based on two factors: the freshmen's margin of victory in 1994, and whether President Clinton won the district in 1992. Ensign defeated Democrat James Bilbray in 1994 by less than 1 percent, or about 1,400 votes, and Clinton beat former President George Bush in Nevada's 1st Congressional District 43 percent to 31 percent.
Ensign also faces a disadvantage in registered voters. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by about 30,000.
"I've been on their hit list all year," Ensign said. "You're going to be targeted until you prove you can hold your seat."
Ensign, who hopes to raise $1.5 million, reiterated earlier statements that Gingrich has agreed to stage a fund-raiser in Las Vegas on an unspecified date. Ensign raised about $700,000 in 1994.
Republicans won control of the House in 1994 for the first time in 39 years and outnumber Democrats by 38 seats. Democrats need 20 seats, or 218 total, to regain control.
DCCC spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said the number of vulnerable seats is about equal between Republicans and Democrats. But she believes the anti-government uprising attributed for sweeping Republicans into Congress two years ago has lost steam.
"People voted for change in 1994," said Primrose, "but they weren't bargaining for the change they got, like cuts in Medicare and in student loans."
Democrats hope to take control by targeting 47 first-term Republicans, including Ensign, who won with less than 53 percent of the vote, Primrose said.
Primrose said the DCCC will contribute the legal limit of $10,000 in campaign funds and up to $60,000 in research and advertising to Ensign's Democratic challenger. Four Democrats, including state Sen. Bob Coffin, have filed for the September primary election.
She said the committee doesn't tabulate rankings but that the Washington Post, in a story published Monday, compiled DCCC statistics that resulted in Ensign being named the fourth most vulnerable.
The freshmen considered more vulnerable than Ensign are Reps. Mark Neumann of Wisconsin, Frederick Heineman of North Carolina and Andrea Seastrand of California. Each won by less than 1 percent.
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