Ziser wins Nevada's GOP Senate primary, sets sights on incumbent Reid

RENO - Richard Ziser claimed victory Tuesday in Nevada's Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and focused his attention on upsetting incumbent Democrat Harry Reid in November.

Ziser, who raised $1 for every $18 in Reid's hefty $7.8 million campaign fund, was undaunted by the disparity and said he was banking on his conservatism and calls for fiscal restraint to unseat Reid, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate.

"It's definitely going to be a close race," Ziser predicted in a phone interview from Las Vegas. "We'll have the Reagan Democrats who crossed the line."

With 54 percent of precincts reporting, Ziser had 33 percent of the vote and led his closest rivals by a margin of about 2-to-1.

Kenneth Wegner and Bob Brown each had 17 percent of the votes cast in a field of six GOP candidates. Cherie Tilley had 9 percent; Royle Melton, 9 percent; and Carlo Poliak, 2 percent.

"None of these candidates," an option for Nevada voters in statewide races, had 14 percent.

Ziser is the former chairman of the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage, which successfully backed an initiative to prohibit the state from recognizing gay marriages.

Voters overwhelming approved the constitutional amendment in 2000 and 2002.