Rich Pedroncelli / AP
In this Aug. 22, 2017, photo, Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., speaks at the 21st Annual Lake Tahoe Summit in South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018 | 2 a.m.
There was not an overabundance of enthusiasm for Sen. Dean Heller when the Nevada Republican Men’s Club gathered for its monthly luncheon at the Bali Hai Golf Club in Las Vegas.
Karl Johnson, a precinct director for the Clark County Republican Party, wrinkled his nose and raised his eyebrows when asked about Heller’s prospects for re-election. Paul Workman, a banker who supports Heller, said conservatives are complaining to him about the Republican senator’s shifting stances on health care.
Linda Cannon, a candidate for the Nevada state Assembly, summed up the views of many. “I’m going to hold my nose and vote for him,” she said.
For Heller, 58, an easygoing ranch owner who is in the unenviable position of being the only Senate Republican up for re-election in a state that Hillary Clinton carried, the “hold your nose” vote may be critical this fall. He is still trying to recover from last year’s health care debacle, when he enraged conservatives by voting against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act — only to anger moderates and Democrats when he turned around and voted for a narrower version of the repeal.
Democrats deride that awkward reversal as a flip-flop, one of many, including an about-face on immigration. The senator’s backers say he was simply making thoughtful decisions. Regardless, it hangs over Heller, who at the moment is something like a man without a country.
He is struggling to mend fences with backers of President Donald Trump, who have not forgotten that in 2016 he declared himself “vehemently opposed” to Trump as a candidate. They are suspicious of his recent embrace of the president. But his appeal will have to extend well beyond Trump’s supporters in a state where polls show Trump’s popularity near or below 40 percent.
And his seat is one both sides desperately need. With Democrats defending 10 Senate seats in states Trump won, Heller’s is that rare opportunity to mitigate potential losses. For Republicans clinging to a 51-to-49 Senate majority, Nevada is one of only a handful of states where they are on defense — and in a Democratic sweep, it could be one of the seats that costs them control.
While the president gave him a big boost recently, by nudging Danny Tarkanian, a conservative businessman and perennial candidate, out of the Republican primary, people in both parties say Heller remains the most vulnerable Republican in the Senate.
“He’s not hard-enough red meat for the Republicans, not moderate enough to satisfy the nonpartisan folks,” said David Damore, a political scientist at UNLV who is following the race.
But Heller’s chief strategist, Mike Slanker, said that in a swing state like Nevada, Heller — who has never lost a race in his nearly 30 years in politics — is exactly where he should be. He was recently ranked No. 5 on a list of the most bipartisan senators, developed by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University.
“People may knock him, but he’s a winner,” Slanker said, “and he’s a winner because voters like him.”
Heller declined to be interviewed for this article. During a quick hallway conversation in the Capitol in Washington, he brushed off questions and, perhaps only half-jokingly, urged a reporter not to write about his race.
“Don’t do it, don’t do it, it wouldn’t be worth it,” he said with a smile.
In Nevada, he pitches himself to voters as the candidate with experience who can work in a bipartisan way, and he spotlights his work on behalf of veterans, an important constituency in Nevada, and on the recent tax overhaul.
“It’s still Heller’s race to lose,” said Sig Rogich, a longtime Republican strategist here.
Analysts expect the race against his expected Democratic opponent, Rep. Jacky Rosen, to get nasty. In a preview of what is to come, the Heller campaign has released a digital advertisement attacking Rosen over her opposition to the tax bill. His allies are portraying her as a neophyte with a thin résumé who can’t deliver for the state.
Rosen, 60, casts herself as a fresh face and a woman of the people who worked her way through college as a waitress — and worked her way up as a computer programmer when few women were in the field. In a brief interview, she suggested she would make an issue of Heller’s embrace of Trump.
“Dean Heller last year voted 96 percent of the time with Donald Trump, and he’s never voted against a Trump nominee,” Rosen said. “I’m always going to stand up for Nevada first.”
