Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, trailing badly in the polls, is pouring money from his prodigious fundraising operation into the state Democratic party organization to bolster his reelection campaign.
Reid has tapped his campaign war chest for dozens of state and local Democratic candidates as well as party organizations representing African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, women, gays and college students. But the bulk of Reid’s largesse is going to the Nevada Democratic Party, which will play a critical role in his race, especially in getting out the vote this November.
Reid helped funnel nearly $660,000 to the state party in 2009 alone, according to Federal Election Commission records. These funds came from Reid’s reelection campaign, his leadership PAC — the Searchlight Leadership Fund — and a joint fundraising committee created by Reid’s campaign and the state party. President Barack Obama, who will be making another trip to Nevada later this month to stump for Reid, was the headliner at a multimillion dollar fundraiser last year that benefited Reid’s reelection campaign and the state party.
Sources close to the Reid campaign said the veteran lawmaker will pump hundreds of thousands of additional dollars into the state party’s coffers throughout the year, even as he looks to raise $25 million or more for his own race. He has already raised more than $15 million.
Reid’s Senate Democratic colleagues, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin, as well as a PAC founded by former Democratic aides, kicked in an additional $57,000 to the state party, most of which was donated in late December. Even former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Reid’s Democratic predecessor, gave $4,000 to the state committee last year. - Politico Story
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