Lawyers, labor help give Reid funding edge

Since last year Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has received more campaign money than Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., from seven of 12 major business, labor and ideological sectors surveyed by a nonpartisan government watchdog.

The Center for Responsive Politics of Washington, D.C., relying on information from the Federal Election Commission from Jan. 1, 1997, through last Sept. 1, found that Reid's biggest fund-raising edge over his Republican foe came from lawyers and lobbyists, and from organized labor. Those groups traditionally favor Democrats.

Ensign, who is challenging for Reid's seat in the Nov. 3 general election, gained his biggest fund-raising advantage over the senator from miscellaneous businesses and the health care industry.

However, if one includes all the money Reid has raised since Jan. 1, 1993, when the current Senate election cycle began, he has out-raised Ensign in all 12 major sectors. Ensign raised money for his congressional victories in 1994 and 1996, but only the funds he has collected since last year are counted toward his Senate campaign statistics compiled by the center.

The center crunched several other fund-raising statistics comparing Reid and Ensign. Among the findings:

archive