Posted By: John Steele

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press WriterWed Nov 8, 9:09 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) regulated gambling in his home state of Nevada when the mob controlled casinos. He mastered arcane Senate procedures as the Democrats' second-in-command for six years and their leader the past two years.
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With the election giving Democrats control of the Senate following four years of GOP dominance, the gold miner's son from tiny Searchlight, Nev., is in line to become majority leader. Soft-spoken yet shrewd, Reid brings a tough hide and intricate knowledge of the Senate to a job where he'll need both.

"I always would rather dance than fight," Reid likes to say. "But I know how to fight."

Reid, 66, grew up hardscrabble in a downtrodden mining town in the Mojave Desert, and worked his way through college, then law school in Washington as a Capitol Hill cop. He served five years as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission in the late 1970s, and climbed the ranks in state politics from lieutenant governor to congressman to senator, winning his fourth Senate term in 2004.

Sen. Tom Daschle's loss that year opened the way for Reid to become minority leader.

Slight and stoop-shouldered, Reid at times speaks in a near-whisper and seems to shrink from the spotlight. But he's viewed as a tough-nosed master of the back-room deal and of Senate floor procedure.

In 2001 he helped influence moderate Vermont Sen. James Jefford's decision to bolt from the GOP and become an independent, giving Democrats their last stint of Senate control, for a year and a half.

Last November, he left Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist fuming when he used a little-invoked Senate rule to force the chamber into a closed session to question prewar intelligence.

"Reid could just run circles around Frist in terms of parliamentary moves," said Eric Herzik, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Frist, R-Tenn., did not seek re-election. Reid is likely to work more easily with Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky, the Republican expected to succeed Frist as the GOP's leader.

Reid opposes abortion and some gun control laws, putting him to the right of many in his caucus. But he wins praise from the most liberal Democrats.

"He really does develop consensus before he makes decisions," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. "He's a very self-effacing individual. He's a rare type of person. There's a certain naivete to Harry that's refreshing. He's not rehearsed."

Questions about the ethics of some of Reid's personal business transactions, however, have muddied the Democrats' "Republican culture of corruption" message.

In October, Reid announced he was amending his financial disclosure forms to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal reported by The Associated Press that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned in three years.

Reid also had to apologize last year after calling President Bush a "loser" in an appearance at a Las Vegas high school. He has accused Bush of lying and called former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan a "political hack."

But Reid says he'll cooperate with the Bush administration for the next two years. Democrats have always wanted to do that, he insists, claiming that the White House refused to reciprocate.

"I think, frankly, the arrogance of this administration is waning. I don't think they can continue to be uncompromising, refusing to admit mistakes," Reid said a week before the election. "I think this election is going to show them the American people think there should be a change in Iraq, and at home."

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