Nevada Republican incumbent Sen. Dean Heller’s attempt to gin up his base Monday appeared to backfire when a text message he sent to supporters claiming Democratic challenger Jacky Rosen was already beating him at the polls was skewered on social media.
“Our data says Jacky Rosen is winning the US Senate race by 73 votes,” the text stated. “You can make the difference tomorrow. When do you plan to vote? Thank you, Dean Heller.”
FYI, Dean Heller just texted me to say Jacky Rosen is winning by 73 votes according to his data. pic.twitter.com/0IcHmyYBag
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) November 5, 2018
The message, shared on Twitter by the Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston, was quickly panned by pundits online.
Got one of those, too. pic.twitter.com/ICPbbAt96l
— David Colborne (@ElectDavidC) November 5, 2018
Is Brian Kemp running the election out there, too?
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) November 5, 2018
That is what you text when you want it posted to get your base to show up
— Reed Stepleman (@atlantarj) November 5, 2018
And he knows this… how? What’s been going on at that SOS office?
— Lord Mike (@lord__mike) November 5, 2018
Does he want you to vote 74 times?
— Mash – ?⛪???️ (@thisismash) November 5, 2018
Dean’s misfire comes as RealClearPolitics’ polling average gave Rosen a 1 percentage point advantage going into Election Day. Rosen currently serves Nevada in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her campaign against Heller is being billed as one of the most important in terms of determining which party controls the Senate in 2019.
Nevada’s Secretary of State’s Office last weekend released results from the state’s early voting period, which officially ended on Friday, according to NBC-affiliate News 3. The data suggest Democrats have a 3.5 percentage point lead over Republicans as 41.4 percent of those who cast ballots early were registered Democrats, as opposed to 37.9 percent who were Republicans; 40.3 percent of the Nevada electorate still needs to vote.
