Dini first to file campaign report

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, who says he's undecided whether to run again, was the first state legislator to file his report of campaign contributions for 1999.

Dini reported Friday he collected $12,700 since the close of the Legislature. The money will be used for his re-election campaign if he decides to run again. His biggest contribution of $5,000 came from the Bellagio in December.

Household Financial Group of Folsom, Calif., kicked in $3,000 and the utility Shareholder Association of Nevada contributed $2,000.

Dini told Secretary of State Dean Heller the checks he received had not been deposited as of Jan. 5. If he decides not to run, the money will be returned.

Nevada law requires those who collect campaign contributions in excess of $10,000 in the year before the election to report by Jan. 15. Dini's report came in two days early.

It showed that after the November 1998 election, he had $57,988 in unspent campaign funds. But in 1999 he used a good part of that for office expenses and contributions to nonprofits groups. He ended the year with $23,586 not including the $12,700 in contributions.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who has said he will run for re-election, collected $12,000 in campaign contributions after the 1999 Legislature, his report, filed this morning, shows. He received a $5,000 donation from the Bellagio on Dec. 29, $2,500 from the Utility Shareholders of Nevada and $2,000 from Barrick Goldstrike Mine.

That $12,000 is in addition to the $81,781 Raggio had left over from the last campaign.

Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, who filed her report on Friday, collected $10,750 last year. Her biggest contribution was $2,000, which came from a group called Citizens for Justice Trust; $1,500 from Newmont Gold Co. and $1,000 from Dr. Bruce Allen of Tonopah.

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