Reid takes another swipe at Lowden’s business

Last week, Sen. Harry Reid's re-election campaign took a swing at Republican challenger Sue Lowden, citing information about her family's gaming company Archon Corp., to undercut her message that her business experience would be an asset if she is elected to replace Reid in the U.S. Senate.

Today, Reid's camp returned to what it considered fruitful ground. The attacks takes on added significance following polling that shows Lowden has emerged as the Republican frontrunner to take him on.

After digging further into Archon annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Reid camp charged Lowden's husband Paul Lowden, as Archon chief executive officer, was paid a $200,000 bonus in 2004, a year when Archon closed Duke's Casino in Sparks.

That also was when Archon ended a lease agreement that resulted in the closure of the Wet 'n Wild water park on the Strip in Las Vegas.

According to a 2004 report in the Reno Gazette-Journal, Duke's Casino employed 52 people at the point it closed.

In Las Vegas, Park Entertainment operated Wet 'n Wild on 27 acres leased from Archon, but closed the attraction when the landlord signaled it wanted to do something else with the property.

The Review-Journal reported Park Entertainment had 30 fulltime employers who would either be transferred or laid off, and about 300-600 seasonal workers who presumably would be looking elsewhere for summertime hours.

Reid's campaign manager Brandon Hall said the Lowdens were practicing "Wall Street-like behavior."

“Lowden’s track record clearly demonstrates she values massive CEO bonuses at the expense of the livelihoods of working Nevadans,” Hall said.

In a similar attack last week Reid's campaign noted Paul Lowden got a $200,000 bonus last year, when the Archon-run Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in Laughlin dropped 106 employees and as Archon stopped matching employee contributions to their 401Ks.

Lowden campaign manager Robert Uithoven said Monday the candidate and her husband have undertaken risk to run companies and give people jobs, and Reid should back off.

"Harry Reid works for us," Uithoven said. "Before any private citizen should have to explain how they have risked, earned, saved or spent their own, personal money, perhaps Harry Reid ought to explain how his failed policies in Washington have led Nevada families to face record unemployment, record home foreclosures, record bankruptcies and record debt."

Lowden's campaign previously said she did not play a role in determining her husband's compensation at Archon. Sue Lowden, who is executive vice president, secretary and treasurer of Archon, said she did not sit on the compensation committee.

"I wonder how much Harry Reid wants to open this campaign up to the families," Uithoven added. " We don't intend to make this campaign about Harry Reid's family, but it is clear he wants to make this campaign about Sue Lowden's family."

Asked if he was hinting that members of Reid's family might come under Lowden scrutiny, Uithoven said, "No it is the opposite. It is unfortunate we are still seven months away from the election and Harry Reid is so desperate he is not just attacking Sue Lowden but now attacking her family."