This diary is about Nevada’s 3rd CD.
It’s a rhetorical question of course! At least for me.
Nevertheless, it is still an interesting one. On the one side we have one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, on the other a Democratic elite unwilling to jump into the race – whatever reasons they may have.
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Invitations went out to the big dance off, and it had to be tempting. Challenge a Republican congressman who has been unwavering in his support of an unpopular war. Get millions of dollars in assistance from national Democrats. And do all of this when voters are leaning toward Democrats.
The cool kids, though, decided not to show. So a political neophyte will be the candidate.
Robert Daskas, a chief deputy district attorney, filed papers last week announcing his intention to run against Rep. Jon Porter, a three-term incumbent. (The other announced Democratic candidate is Andrew Martin, who will have a tough time beating Daskas, the party’s preferred candidate, for the nomination .)
Daskas has the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada . But that doesn’t mean he was the first choice. At least four other s, three of them veteran elected officials, passed up a chance to run.
“There’s no question Daskas is a fourth-choice candidate for national Democrats,” said David Wasserman, House editor for the Cook Political Report. “That said, Republicans can’t take him lightly.”
If you think this only applies to Nevada’s 3rd congressional district you’d be wrong. The same is true for Oregon’s U.S. Senate race. There, Bush rubber stamp Gordon Smith is seen just as vulnerable as Porter is in Nevada. And yet, one prominent Democrat after the other said thanks but no thanks. In the end, the Democratic elite in Oregon settled on House Majority Leader Jeff Merkley. In Nevada, they settled on Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas.
The number of elected Democrats in Oregon is much higher than in Nevada so the following assertion by the Sun doesn’t quite ring true:
In other states, political parties spend years nurturing potential candidates for higher office. But Nevada Democrats have not always focused on grooming candidates by helping up-and-comers get elected to school boards and city councils to gain experience.
It’s more a resistance of leading Democrats to take a chance and jump into a race with an uncertain outcome. One wonders why. However, this reluctance may be one reason why there is still no talk of a challenger for our Republican freshman in Congress, Dean Heller. What’s up with that anyway?
Cross posted from My Silver State.