Jill Derby, who lost to then Secretary of State Dean Heller 50-45 lis back and back with a vengeance. In fact, those are Derby’s own words.
Derby had been serving as the Chair of the Nevada Democratic Party and scrupulously avoided building her own political career while she shepherded the caucuses in their new, nationally important time slot.
Derby, of course, is the former Chancellor of the University of Nevada and she is running in a district that covers at least 75% of the state’s area but only a third of the population.
This was one of Benawu’s open seats. It has a daunting RVI of R+8.2. It covers a huge and different area from the Vegas centered districts. Yet Heller has gone from a respected statewide official to a backbencher for a minority party. He doesn’t add name recognition and is probably more vulnerable than he was two years ago considering the poor poll ratings of Congress in general and Republican congress members in particular.
Derby’s web site, www.jillderby.com, has a huge picture odf a smilling Jill Derby with a desert background superimposed and a February 20 dateline. It starts, “Today, I am announcing my candidacy for Congress. I’m Jill Derby and I’m back.”
She’s probably the only candidate who can make this seat competitive. Well, she has.