Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., with his son Harris, from left, daughter Emmy, and wife Lynne celebrates his victory at the Palazzo in Las Vegas after midnight on Wednesday, November 7, 2012.
Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 | 11:06 a.m.
Republican Sen. Dean Heller believes he and President Obama both won in Nevada because Nevadans could better relate to them than they could GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Heller narrowly defeated Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley by about 12,000 votes or 1.2 percent. Obama had 66,000 more votes than Romney or 6.5 percent.
Nevada Democrats have 90,000 more registered voters than Republicans. But exit polling shows between one and two out of 20 Democrats crossed party lines after backing Obama to vote for Heller. Only about half as many Romney-backers voted for Berkley.
Heller told the Reno Gazette-Journal he supported Romney but wasn't sure the ex-Massachusetts governor was someone the average person could relate to. He says Obama seemed to better connect with the average Nevadan than did Romney.
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