It’s a shame that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) was allowed to bow out gracefully and on his own terms. I really don’t understand why he is allowed to remain in the Senate. In any case, we really have to pick up his seat if we have any hope of maintaining control of the upper body. Roll Call mentions three possible candidates:
On the Democratic side, Rep. Shelley Berkley is taking a hard look at the race, as are Secretary of State Ross Miller and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.
DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil called the seat “ripe for a Democratic pickup” and said “it remains high on our target list.”
I am not keen on Shelley Berkley. The other two I have never heard of, so I have no opinion. Rep. Dean Heller is the leading candidate for the Republicans, although he’ll probably have to get by Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) in a primary.
I wonder if Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman is interested in running as either a Democrat or an Independent. He’d easily be one of the most colorful senators in Washington, and he’s not a big fan of the president.
Anyone have any thoughts on this contest?
The real question is, what will the eventual nominees think of Nevada prostitution?
Ensign is allowed to remain in the Senate by the combination of Republicans giving a free pass to any of their members caught in anything except for homosexual affairs, and Ensign and Harry Reid’s private truce/mutually assured destruction pact.
Well, they let Larry Craig stick around until the end. They didn’t want to, but they had no will to kick him out.
What’s Goodman’s beef with President Obama? Because Goodman is DINO-ish like Ben Nelson.
Well, here’s the good thing: we actually have a good bench of office holders in Nevada. While 2010 was pretty nasty for Democrats across the nation, hardly anything changed in Nevada. Only Dina Titus lost her congressional seat while pretty much everyone else was reelected. Democrats hold both the Assembly and the state legislature, four out of six constitutional officers are Dems and all four were reelected easily in November. Only the Gov and the LG are Republicans.
However, most Democrats are focused on redistricting and the extra seat they will get. So, most speculation has been about who will run for Congress next year, even more so in a scenario where Shelley Berkley and Dean Heller run for the Senate, making 3 out of 4 races open seats. Likely candidates for Congress are former Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, current Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, State Senator Ruben Kihuen and former Congresswoman Dina Titus. So, the speculative focus has been on this.
Nobody really knows who will run for the Senate. Apparently, Berkley seems quite intent on entering the race, getting knowwhere in the House, as she’s been more aligned with people like Ellen Tauscher and Harriet Harman rather than Nancy Pelosi.
The big question is if any of the four constitutional officers will make it a race. All four have one advantage over Berkley: they don’t risk anything should they run as they are not up for reelection until 2014. They are SoS Ross Miller, Treasurer Kate Marshall, AG Catherine Cortez Masto and Controller Kim Wallin.
Their advantage: they have all won statewide twice, while Berkley hasn’t had a competitive race in years.
Miller is the youngest, turning 35 this month, and the son of popular former Governor Bob Miller. That may not matter much though, as anyone who has come into the state in the past 10 years wouldn’t have a clue who Bob Miller was. Cortez Masto is also from a political family, her late father having been an influential Clark County Commissioner. She was also Bob Miller’s Chief of Staff. It’s quite possible that both may be more interested in a run for Governor in three years and may pass this race. Kate Marshall is the only Northern Nevadan of the four, living in Reno. Both Marshall and Cortez Masto have worked in DC before, Marshall in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Cortez Masto as a federal criminal prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. Kim Wallin has the lowest profile of the four, like Miller and Cortez Masto she’s from Clark County and a native Nevadan.
In the end, I think one of the four will run. I simply can’t imagine Berkley getting a free pass. It may also be possible that Marshall may run for Congress, depending on how the Reno area district will be drawn.
I want to see the betting line in Vegas before picking a favorite candidate.
…and probably better check the guest register of the Mustang Ranch before giving them the nomination.
is there any reason to think crazy ass Angle won’t run again?
Depends on if Nevada Republicans are embarrassed at all.
Wikipedia:
Las Vegas is, was, and always will be mobbed up. Have you no idea how it works? These people never give up a profitable investment unless…as was the case w/Castro and Cuba…they are driven away at the point of a gun. And they are still after that island. Bet on it. They simply step back every generation or so and take less profit from each front. But…they gain more fronts in the process, so profit remains high. Eventually? They go legit. As did the Kennedys. Until he chickens came home to roost, that is.
Goodman is at best a mob lawyer gone “legit.” Quote me not “the right to counsel.” Counsel has a choice, too. Once made…dassit.
And this is the “Dem” that you want as a Senator?
Please.
Dese, dem and dose. At best!
Bet on that as well.
“Colorful?”
And you make noises about a true fighting progressive like Alan Grayson? Because he is too “colorful?”
Sometimes I wonder about you, Booman.
I really do.
AG