John Chachas, a wealthy investment banker who is contemplating entering the Republican primary for the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), will report this week that he ended September with $1.3 million in cash on hand after dropping more than $1 million of his own money into the campaign.

“Sen. Reid’s support for unprecedented deficit spending and big-government takeovers shows just how far he’s lost touch with Nevadans who want a smaller federal government,— Chachas said in a statement. “We can’t continue on this path and hope to see American consumers returning to Nevada’s hotels and casinos or any real reduction in Nevada’s 13 percent unemployment.—

Chachas is a managing director at Lazard who works in New York but grew up in Ely and still owns property in the state.

While Republicans believe they have a good shot of ousting Reid, they are still struggling to find a top-tier challenger. For now, the leading GOP candidates appear to be Sue Lowden, the former state party chairwoman, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman and son of legendary former University of Nevada at Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.