Local leaders turn out to support Harry Reid
It was a moment of unity for the re-election campaign of Senate Majority Harry Reid, locked in a statewide struggle with Republican challenger Sharron Angle.
With less than four weeks to go until the Nov. 2 general election, Harry Reid was back from Washington D.C. and in Sparks Wednesday for a news conference.
Behind him stood a Republican mayor from Reno, a Democratic mayor from Carson City and a Sparks city councilwoman, also standing in for another Republican mayor who is backing Reid.
They were all there to cheer the federal monies and gifts that they said Reid secured to improve their cities.
Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell mentioned $10 million in funding for a new airport runway. Reno Mayor Bob Cashell mentioned the ReTrac project where Reid’s influence helped secure Reno’s downtown train trench. Sparks City Councilwoman Julia Ratti spoke of a list of things Reid’s power and influence have brought to her city.
Ratti mentioned $2.25 million for a water treatment plant, another $1 million in federal funding for Sparks’ West End neighborhood of low-income families and $250,000 to revitalize a community center for low-income families.
“This is what it means to have the majority leader in our corner,” Ratti said. “It means job creation. It means service to our community and it means a better economic future for Nevada.”
Reid soaked it in, enjoying the litany of projects he helped make happen.
“We are all part of the same team, these folks here and the ones I mentioned,” Reid said, referring to a long list of Northern Nevada city and county officials -- stretching from Fernley in the west to Wells in the east -- that couldn’t attend the meeting.
Earlier, in a meeting with the Reno Gazette-Journal editorial board, Reid said he was happy with the many things he has helped bring to Nevada.
“I think I do a pretty good job of maintaining my vision of what I think Nevada needs and what I can help with,” Reid said. “This job I have gives me great ability to do things for the state.”