Sen. Dean Heller will report raising $1.2 million in third quarter, and $4.2 million in cash on hand, as he girds for tough primary challenge and general election fights next year.
Those are respectable numbers for the vulnerable Republican incumbent from Nevada, who has been under fire from the Right and Left during the past several months.
Heller votes with President Trump around 90 percent of the time, and ultimately voted for the party’s legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. But that might not be good enough for Trump — and it isn’t good enough for populist insurgents on the Right who are backing his GOP primary opponent, Danny Tarkanian, a five-time loser for political office.
The senator’s troubles started in June when he announced that he could not back the first incarnation of the legislaiton Trump was supporting to partially repeal former President Barack Obmama’s Affordable Care Act.
The bill ended failing, though not because of Heller. His eventual support for the bill has helped spark sustained attacks from the Democrats, and could contribute to the stiff battle he will face to hold his seat for a second full term next November, if he wins re-nomination in June.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won Nevada last year, on the strength of heavy support from Hispanic voters suspicious of Trump. Obamacare also happens to be popular in Nevada, championed by none other than a Heller ally, Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Democrats, who have few opportunities to pick off incumbent Republicans in 2018, are expected to invest heavily in ousting Heller. He’s likely to face freshman Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen in that race.
Nevada is reeling from the mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 59 attendees of an open-air country music concert dead. It’s unclear what impact, if any, the massacre might have on the campaign.
