Thursday, July 1, 1999 | 11:18 a.m.
Two candidates for Richard Bryan's soon-to-be open U.S. Senate seat are off and running bolstered by more money than either had hoped to raise by the time the first campaign finance reporting deadline rolled around.
When the Federal Elections Commission books closed Wednesday, former Republican Rep. John Ensign had raised a little more than the $1 million he hoped to have, and Democratic Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa had raised $217,000, passing her goal of $200,000.
Earlier today, Del Papa said that figure could be $17,000 to $20,000 higher if donations carrying Wednesday's postmark counted. Campaign workers still are tallying those donations and checking on whether they could be included.
"There were Fed-Ex envelopes that were coming to us that didn't make it," Del Papa said.
Ensign's impressive showing was all the better because the money came easier than back in 1998 when Ensign narrowly lost against Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, Mike Slanker, Ensign's campaign manager, said today.
"In the last campaign, it took three to four phone calls to get a check, and this time people are calling us," Slanker said. "We're really excited about it."
Both candidates figure a win will cost about $5 million, which means Del Papa has a lot of ground to cover just to catch up to Ensign, who is a fifth of the way there.
Del Papa hopes to raise $3.5 to $4 million overall. She said she is happy with Wednesday's results and disheartened only by the role money plays in political campaigns.
"I think that too much money is spent and too much time is spent on fund-raising. Campaign finance reform is definitely on the top of my list," Del Papa said. "We're going to be outspent, but we're not going to be out-campaigned. It's not about money."
Ensign learned differently last time when he lost by 428 votes, Slanker said.
"When you're counting votes until Christmas, you have a lot of time to think about it," Slanker said. "You really don't want to leave any stone unturned. Money is a key component to every campaign.
"A sign of support is whether someone writes you a check, whether it's for $5 or $1,000," he said. "About 80 percent of it came from Nevada, and that's important. These are the people who matter the most."
Del Papa said she hadn't examined her contributors' list closely enough yet to know how much support came from Nevada residents.
She said she is going to strive to give people "hope and optimism for the future," and she plans to maintain it for herself in the coming campaign -- no matter how much money is in the bank.
"There is far, far too much time spent on raising money instead of looking for solutions to the problems we face," Del Papa said
Slanker said Ensign isn't naive enough to think money can buy a Senate seat. But money helps people know where a candidate stands by paying for television advertisements and paying people to coordinate groups of volunteers.
"It's about ideas, and we're convinced we have better ideas," Slanker said. "But if you haven't got the money, nobody's going to hear you."
Bryan, D-Nev., announced in February that he would not seek re-election next year.
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