President Trump scored a major victory on Friday to end an intraparty battle in Nevada that threatened to jeopardize incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller’s bid for reelection.
At the behest of Trump and several White House aides, insurgent GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian announced Friday that he would drop his primary challenge against Heller and instead file for a congressional run. Tarkanian launched his campaign early last year and has spent months criticizing Heller for his policy positions and inadequate support for Trump.
“Late Wednesday, the President and members of his political team reached out to me and asked me to consider supporting the America First agenda as a Congressional candidate by running again in [congressional district] 3, where I nearly won in 2016,” Tarkanian said in a statement.
Tarkanian said a third run for Congress, following two unsuccessful bids in 2012 and 2016, was absent from his radar until Trump and his team mentioned it this week.
“I am confident I would have won the U.S. Senate race and done a great job representing the people of Nevada in the Senate, but the President is adamant that a unified Republican ticket in Nevada is the best direction for the America first movement,” he said.
Tarkanian announced his decision to bow out minutes after the president tweeted that Nevada would benefit more if Heller ran unopposed in the state’s June 12 primary. Heller is viewed as one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection this fall, due to Nevada’s support for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and to Heller’s flip-flop last year during efforts to repeal Obamacare.
It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it’s unity if good guy Danny Tarkanian would run for Congress and Dean Heller, who is doing a really good job, could run for Senate unopposed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2018
He is the first insurgent candidate whom Trump has personally implored not to run in a Senate GOP primary, suggesting the president is increasing his involvement and influence in the midterm elections as the primary schedule begins to take off.
Friday marked the filing deadline in Nevada for congressional candidates to run this fall.
