Posted on 05/21/2015 4:07:35 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Rep. Joe Heck has told some Nevada Republicans he is close to deciding to run for Senate, a source told CQ Roll Call Tuesday, and the conversations have prompted speculation among Nevada Republicans that an announcement could come sooner rather than later.
Heck would be a top recruit for Republicans looking to take the seat being vacated by Sen. Harry Reid. The congressman had initially said he would not run, but recently declared he was reconsidering.
According to the source, Heck said in a recent conversation he had not yet made a final decision, but he was close to making one.
Heck consultant Ryan Erwin told CQ Roll Call the congressman has not made a decision yet.
But Nevada operatives were abuzz this week about the rumored movement in Heck’s camp.
The congressman will likely wait for Gov. Brian Sandoval to formally declare he will not run for Senate. Sandoval is by most accounts the GOP dream candidate, and he retains right of first refusal. Sandoval has given every indication he will not run, but he has dragged out speculation by not giving a definitive answer. That answer will likely come after the legislative session ends in June.
“We’re not gonna make our decision based on who is or is not in the race; we’re gonna make a decision based on what would make sense for my family,” Heck told CQ Roll Call on May 15 at the Capitol. He said he had no timeline for making an announcement, but was encouraged by “folks expressing their support.”
“There’s been some polls done that we’re looking at,” he said, though he did not say whether those polls had been conducted on his behalf.
If Heck does take the plunge into the Senate race, a lot of dominoes will tip with him.
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.rollcall.com ...
This race is shaping up quickly. I didn’t think Heck would run, but I appear to have been wrong. Having Harry Reid succeeded by a Republican would be too sweet.
The Heck you say!
Reid’s overstayed his welcome in DC by 18 years. He probably lost in 1998, given the margin of victory over then-Rep. John Ensign and would’ve lost definitively in 2004 had Rep. Jim Gibbons challenged him — and I’m convinced the two of them cut a deal in private that if Gibbons didn’t challenge Reid, he’d not actively oppose him if he switched to running for Governor in ‘06. We all know the fiasco of 2010, I need not repeat which should’ve been Reid’s curtain call.
I frankly wish Sen. Paul Laxalt hadn’t retired when he did in 1986 (he’s still with us, so he could’ve probably squeezed out two more terms — then again, he should’ve been Reagan’s VP and Presidential successor instead of the Bush family menace). What would be nice would be if AG Adam Laxalt took the seat back for his grandfather.
What the Heck?
Heck is a very good man.
Heck is probably the best bet if Sandoval passes on running.
Sandoval could be a VP option, with Laxalt going to governor.
Heck is a big amnesty shill so are Amodei and Cresent Hardy.
Wonderboy hispanic governor Sandoval gave driver cards to illegals.
Dean Heller boasted the amnesty would pass if put to a vote.
It’s been a disaster Sharron Angle losing the 2006 Congressional primary.
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2013/dec/11/lack-key-support-has-heck-holding-back-dream-act-b/
Harry Reid is right about Jeb Bush and Joe Heck being wimps.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/05/reid-rips-nevada-gop-rep-heck-as-lightweight-compared-to-sharron-angle/
Sandoval’s pro-choice position on abortion makes him an unlikely VP pick.
Adam Laxalt is still green. I’m not sure he should be a Senate candidate in ‘16. As for Governor in ‘18, if Sandoval is elected to the Senate (or VP), LT. Mark Hutchinson will be the incumbent.
Except Angle’s losses and public behavior proved she was not fit for higher office.
She was fit for the House of Reps.
I endorsed her in 2006 in that House race. When she started throwing around hysterical and unfounded accusations of voter fraud in the primary and demanding a “do-over” let her supporters know she was not fit for office, low or high.
Her hissy fit after losing the primary proved that she wasn’t.
If Joe Heck runs, his House seat opens. It leans Republican, but not heavily so. State Senate Majority Leader Michael Robinson will likely run, as he and Heck are allies, but Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers may run also.
Yes. Ideally I would rather not risk Heck or Mike Coffman’s House seats but it’s an acceptable risk, NV and CO are our only golden pickup opportunities on the Senate side.
Beers is already the sole declared GOP candidate for Reid’s Senate seat.
Any word on NV redrawing the lines? Why wouldn’t they do it?
I haven’t heard anything since that rumor following the election. There’s plenty of risks to redrawing the lines mid-decade: it will be controversial, it will hurt some people’s feelings, it could get struck down by the state supreme court (which is what happened in Colorado in 2003 or 2004), etc. Of course, the potential benefits—drawing enough safe state legislative districts to keep both houses Republican for at least the rest of te decade, and drawing three GOP-leaning congressional districts to just one overwhelmingly RAT CD—far exceed the risks, at least in my mind.
One thing that Republicans have to make sure, though, is that Gov. Sandoval and that leaders of both houses are on board, because such plans can unravel easily (and leave the party worse off than they were before, given the bad publicity) if the Speaker or the Governor objects. That’s what happened in Virginia in 2013, where the state Senate had to pass the re-redistricitng plan for the state senate districts the day of Obama’s second inaugural (when a black Democrat senator went to DC instead of going to the session) because the RINO Lt. Gov. said that he would not have broken the tie in the evenly split Senate, the Senate-passed bill made Gov. McDonnell unhappy because he would look partisan (maybe he should have been worried instead not to look like a crook for accepting all those gifts from a lobbyist) and the Senate-passed amendment to the prior House bill (which original bill only made minor technical changes to House districts) was ruled “non-germane” by the RINO Speaker and thus defeated without even having a vote in the House.
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