Ex-Congressman Jim Santini, conservative democrat who switched and ran against Harry Reid in 1986 passed away a couple weeks ago. Write-up by John Gizzi.
http://www.newsmax.com/JohnGizzi/Santini-House-Senate/2015/10/02/id/694428/
Had Santini deposed Howard Cannon in the ‘82 primary, he might’ve prevailed over Chic Hecht. The question is if and when he would’ve switched parties while in the Senate. He would’ve been at risk regardless. If he had stayed a Dem, he’d have lost renomination to Gov. Dick Bryan. Had he switched, he still might’ve lost to Bryan as Hecht did.
The opportunism claim hung around his neck like an albatross when Laxalt retired. It’s too bad Laxalt retired at all, he could conceivably still be serving today, or waited until 1998 or 2004 (when he’d have been 81) to have stepped down, anything to have denied Reid a seat.
RIP to Jim Santini, one of the more interesting figures from Nevada. The Nevada he lived in is no more.