Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s passion for his hometown of Searchlight, Nev., might be matched only by his scorn for the Koch brothers. But on Monday, Mr. Reid announced that he and his wife, Landra, had sold their home in Searchlight to move closer to their four children and 16 grandchildren near Las Vegas.

The Reids sold their home, roughly 110 acres of land, eight mining claims and both mineral and water rights to Nevada Milling and Mining for $1.7 million, according to the lawmaker’s office. The company is expected to develop a gold mine in the area.

Mr. Reid was born in Searchlight, a mining town with a population of 539 in the 2010 Census, and had lived there with his wife for 25 years. But the Reids felt that new gold-mining operations were being conducted too close to their home, his office said. The couple will continue to own a piece of land in Searchlight. but are now looking to purchase a residence near Las Vegas, roughly 60 miles north, to be closer to their family and shorten Mr Reid’s travel time during his next re-election campaign in 2016.

“I’ve got a re-election coming up and I’ve been in a few elections commuting from Searchlight and it’s hard, so this will make that part of it much easier,” Mr. Reid said in a video released Monday.

Mr. Reid has written two books involving Searchlight: a history of the town called “Searchlight: The Camp That Didn’t Fail” and a memoir called “The Good Fight: Hard Lessons from Searchlight to Washington.”

During his childhood in the desert town, Mr. Reid would entertain himself by counting cars on the two-lane highway leading to Las Vegas, he said in the video.

“Why? Something to do,” he said. “We did things that wouldn’t be much fun for other kids.”

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