James D. Santini | Ex-congressman, 78

James D. Santini, 78, who served four terms in Congress as a Nevada Democrat, switched parties and battled Harry Reid unsuccessfully for a Senate seat in 1986, and then became a travel industry lobbyist, died Sept. 22 at a hospice center in Rockville, Md.

The cause was esophageal cancer, said his daughter Lori Egbers.

A former justice of the peace and Nevada District Court judge, Mr. Santini was elected to the House in 1974 and for years was the state's only congressman.

In Washington, he focused less on national affairs than on matters of concern to Nevadans. He worked to promote tourism and chaired the House Interior and Insular Affairs mines and mining subcommittee.

Also in 1982, Mr. Santini's congressional district was divided into two because of the state's growing population. One district was won by Barbara Vucanovich, a Republican, and the other by Reid, a Democrat and a former Nevada Gaming Commission chairman.

Mr. Santini, who compiled a conservative record in the House, switched to the Republican Party in 1985.

President Ronald Reagan had won a landslide reelection the year before, and Republican Sen. Paul Laxalt, often called "Reagan's best friend" in politics, was not seeking reelection in 1986.

Mr. Santini and Reid went after it.

Laxalt and Reagan backed Mr. Santini, but he lost in a bitterly contested race marked by negative ads and personal attacks, some of them focused on Mr. Santini's conversion to the GOP.

That race was Mr. Santini's last attempt at public office. He spent much of his later career in Washington with the National Tour Association, retiring in 2010.

Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Ann Crane Santini of Potomac; six children; and 13 grandchildren. - Washington Post