Tuesday, July 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
and Cy Ryan
Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., has more than seven times as much campaign money in the bank as the leading Democratic challenger, thanks largely to the gaming industry.
Ensign reported $841,662 in cash-on-hand through June 30.
State Sen. Bob Coffin, one of four Democrats vying to unseat Ensign in Nevada's 1st Congressional District, has $118,505, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.
The district includes urban parts of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson.
In Nevada's other congressional district, which encompasses the remainder of the state and 30 percent of Clark County, former Assemblymen Jim Gibbons has raised more than twice as much money as the next highest fund-raiser, former state Sen. Spike Wilson, but Gibbons has less money in the bank because he has been campaigning longer.
Ten candidates are running in the district, hoping to succeed retiring Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev.
Ensign's edge
In Las Vegas, Ensign has amassed large sums from the gaming industry, while Coffin has relied on contributions from organized labor.
Between April 1 and June 30, Ensign, a former gaming executive, collected more than $80,000 from gaming executives and political action committees. That represents about 16 percent of the $486,277 he collected for the second quarter of 1996.
Coffin netted $93,970 for the same period, and only $7,500 from the gaming industry.
Included in Coffin's gaming contributions are $2,500 from Bally's, $2,000 from Michael and Paula Gaughan of the Barbary Coast and Gold Coast, and $2,000 from Jack Binion of Binion's Horseshoe.
Michael Gaughan, who contributed $1,000 to Ensign, is the only gaming executive in the second quarter to give to both.
Coffin also received $1,000 from Jack Binion's brother, Ted, whose gaming license has been suspended by the Nevada Gaming Commission for drug-related allegations.
Coffin, who has known Ted Binion since elementary school, said he has no second thoughts about accepting money from him.
"He's a good gambler with a personal problem, and I hope he solves that," Coffin said. "If he wants to contribute to my campaign, I welcome it and need it."
Coffin said he has approached nearly every casino, and almost all have shut him out. One he hasn't sought out is Circus Circus, which gave money to his state Senate races. However, Coffin said he won't approach Circus Circus because one of its top executives, Mike Ensign, is the congressman's father.
"People have always relied heavily on gaming money, perhaps too heavily at the neglect of other sources," he said.
Among the gaming executives contributing $100 to $1,000 to Ensign are Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, MGM Grand Chairman Terry Lanni, Caesars/ITT President Peter Boynton, Circus Circus Chairman Clyde Turner and gaming attorney Frank Schreck.
Others include Harrah's Las Vegas Chairwoman Claudine Williams, Fitzgeralds Chairman Jerome Turk, Hilton Hotels President Stephen Bollenbach, Grand Casinos Chief Executive Officer Lyle Berman, Anchor Gaming President Michael Rumbolz, Showboat Chairman J.K. Houssels, Michael Gaughan and International Game Technology Chairman Charles Mathewson.
Ensign also collected money from political action committees operated by Harrah's, Showboat, MGM Grand, Station Casinos, ITT and Boyd Gaming.
Nearly half of Coffin's contributions, at least $44,750, came from organized labor political action committees, including $5,500 from United Food & Commercial Workers and $5,000 each from the Teamsters, Sheet Metal Workers, Laborers', Machinists, Electrical Workers and Service Employees unions.
Coffin has also benefited from negative television advertising attacking Ensign for voting against bills supported by labor unions. The ads are being paid for by the national AFL-CIO, which has launched a $35 million campaign to unseat congressmen in two dozen districts, including Ensign's.
"John (Ensign) has been hostile to the 70,000 to 90,000 members of labor that live in this district," Coffin said.
Ensign was in Oregon on family business and unavailable for comment. But in a prepared statement, he criticized labor's "negative and deceitful" campaigning.
"These television commercials by Washington union lobbyists are extremely concerning because they are blatantly untrue, libelous in their falsehood and reprehensible in their intent to deceive Nevadans," Ensign said.
Coffin also raised $60,250 from PACs over the past three months for a 1996 total of $65,750.
Among his PAC contributors are groups representing airline pilots, trial lawyers and teachers.
Ensign, the biggest PAC recipient among House freshmen last year, collected $98,280 from PACs from April 1 to June 30, for a 1996 total of $143,406.
Since April, Ensign has received $1,000 from Philip Morris' PAC, and $500 from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Employee PAC.
Ensign also received $1,000 from Daniel Greenspun, vice president of the Las Vegas SUN.
Three other Las Vegas Democrats running in the Sept. 3 primary, Daniel Banta, David Mautner and Robert Gross, were exempted from having to submit reports because each raised less than $5,000.
Gibbons leads
In the 2nd Congressional District, Gibbons, who leads in every public opinion poll, collected $86,382 for the three-month period ending June 30. Gibbons raised $11,000 from Southern Nevada casinos.
During the first six months of 1996, Gibbons has raised $200,215.
Wilson, who entered the race June 4, the final day of filing, has raised $51,665 and has made a personal loan to the campaign of $35,000.
Thirty-one percent of Wilson's contributions, or $16,000, came from Las Vegas gaming executives, members or their families or political action committees.
Wilson also received $1,500 from Peter Eliades, owner of the Olympic Garden topless cabaret, and $500 from Leo McFadden, a Roman Catholic priest in Reno.
Wilson and Gibbons received their largest contributions, $5,000, from the Boyd Gaming Political Action Committee.
Among other Republicans, former Lander County District Attorney Patty Cafferata, who is Vucanovich's daughter, collected $43,955 from April 1 through June 30. She received $2,500 coming from the Howard Hughes Corp.
Cafferata's total for the year is $70,267.
She personally contributed $4,000 in June, bringing her yearly total in personal loans to $18,100.
Former Secretary of State Cheryl Lau, who also entered the race on the final day of filing, collected $9,795 but has spent about half, leaving her with $4,410 in the bank.
Family members accounted for $3,000 in contributions, and she lent the campaign $5,385.
Former Virginia City prostitute Jessi Winchester, a Democrat, reported $7,125 in contributions, which included $5,554 from her personal bank account.
Among her contributors is Dorothy North, chairwoman of the Nevada Commission on Substance Abuse Education. North contributed $100.
Winchester has spent $6,862 and had $263 in the bank at the end of the reporting period.
Five other candidates did not receive $5,000 and were exempted from reporting.
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