By KATIE EWER
katie@du2.byu.edu
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is also a Democrat is going back to Washington.
Harry M. Reid, D-Nevada, was re-elected to the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
Reid was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and returned for a second term in 1992. Now, he will return for his third term.
Reid said he has worked hard during his first two terms and will continue to do so.
'I am proud of my record, and I will continue to fight for the things I believe in,' Reid said, according to Reid's Web site at www.reid98.org/issues/overview.htm .
During this year's campaign, people affiliated with the Republican party distributed leaflets containing Reid's political position on certain issues, said Megan Jones, Reid's deputy press secretary. The leaflets incorrectly stated Reid voted pro-abortion, pro-pornography and pro-homosexuality, Jones said. The leaflets were mainly directed at the LDS community, she said.
Polls showed Reid was losing support among the LDS voters. Reid held seven or eight 'fireside chats' to dispel the rumors, Jones said. The 'fireside chats' were held in members' homes and accommodated about 100 members each. Reid worked to regain the trust of the LDS voters, Jones said. The results showed up in polls.
Approximately 130,000 of the registered voters in Nevada are LDS, Jones said. A poll of the LDS registered voters taken close to the closing of the polls showed Reid was up by 10 percent.
'That's not a lot, but it's still the majority,' Jones said.
Jones said the Democratic party usually has the majority of the votes from the gaming, or gambling, community. But this year, the gaming vote and the gaming money has been split.
John Ensign was the Republican opponent for the U.S. Senate seat. Ensign's father is a part owner of the Las Vegas casino and hotel Circus Circus, and this has influenced the position of voters and contributors, Jones said. Although the Republican Party is receiving more money from the gaming community than usual, Jones said the Democratic Party out-raised the Republican Party by $2 million.
Ensign was elected to Congress as a representative from Nevada in 1994. He was the first Nevadan since 1899 to be granted a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, according to Ensign's Web site at www.ensign4senate.org