NV: Heller won't challenge Reid ( US Senate race )

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | February 27, 2004 | Kirsten Searer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

February 27, 2004

Heller won't challenge Reid

By Kirsten Searer
LAS VEGAS SUN

Secretary of State Dean Heller has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate, meaning that Richard Ziser could be the last major Republican figure planning a run against Sen. Harry Reid.

Heller said consultants told him he would have had to run a negative campaign to pose any viable challenge to Reid, who plans to raise $10 million for the November election.

"If you can't match the dollars that an incumbent has, you need free media," Heller said. "And the way to get free media is you have to go very negative and very extreme. Those aren't the kinds of campaigns I want to run."

People from both sides of the aisle also told Heller that they didn't want to elect a freshman senator and lose the seniority that Reid holds in the Senate, Heller said.

Still, Republican Party chairwoman Lia Roberts said there may yet be additional people who want to be the GOP candidate for the race. She pointed out that the deadline for filing for the office is May 14, Another strong candidate might join the race in the next month, she said. She would not say who the Republican Party is wooing.

"Of course we are still looking and encouraging other people to take a look at it," she said.

"I'm sorry that Dean (Heller) is not going to make this step, but I'm sure he has very good reasons of his own," Roberts said.

Steve Wark, a campaign consultant for Ziser, said his candidate already is operating like the presumptive Republican nominee and has received about $500,000 in commitments from donors in the past three weeks.

Ziser, who ran the initiative drive to ban gay marriage in Nevada, attended a meeting in Los Angeles last Saturday with major Republican donors who are looking to throw money into his race and into the effort by Republican John Phung to challenge Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Donors see similarities in the political climates in Nevada and South Dakota and would love to beat Reid and Daschle, who are the top two Democrats in the Senate, Wark said.

Ziser's campaign, Wark said, "is going very well, in spite of rumors of other people getting in."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Too bad, to have a real shot at knocking out the two top leaders of the Demonic Rats in the Senate would be just incredibly good!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Ziser, who ran the initiative drive to ban gay marriage in Nevada, attended a meeting in Los Angeles last Saturday with major Republican donors who are looking to throw money into his race and into the effort by Republican John Phung to challenge Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

I would send money for that campaign.

[AntiGuv]

Who the heck is Richard Zizer?

[AntiGuv]

For that matter, who the heck is John Phung?

[zbigreddogz]

I think he meant John Thune

[AntiGuv]

Oh, right. That makes sense. Another dyslexic reporter..

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Kirsten doesn't live in South Dakota, how the heck is she suppose to know? /sarcasm

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Still, Republican Party chairwoman Lia Roberts said there may yet be additional people who want to be the GOP candidate for the race. She pointed out that the deadline for filing for the office is May 14, Another strong candidate might join the race in the next month, she said. She would not say who the Republican Party is wooing.

Oooo..a secret candidate, eh? He better have a hellva lot of dough, cause Reid has had plenty of time to fuel up. (Could they be talking about Jack Woodcock?)

[Oatka]

"People from both sides of the aisle also told Heller that they didn't want to elect a freshman senator and lose the seniority that Reid holds in the Senate, Heller said."

With that attitude, why bother to hold elections? The Republicans continue their suicidal policy of "go along, get along and maybe they'll treat us nicely."
I was going to vote this election to try and put Pubbies in the lesser positions but it looks like I might as well stay at home or go Third Party.

[douglas1]

I am going to send money to ziser harry reid won the last election in ninetysix by fraud in the voting count of absentee ballots , he won by three hundred and forty votes can you believe it, and when they found out that more than a thousand voted twice for old harry, we the people of NEVADA did nothing about it ,we let it go and then ENSIGN went on to defeat the other dem senator oh, I will be there with bells on.

[Vigilanteman]

John Thune changed his last name to Phung in order to tap into the powerful Asian-American ethnic voting block in South Dakota.

[AntiGuv]

Who the heck is Jack Woodcock? I think I'd vote for him if just to have a Senator named Jack Woodcock...

[Kuksool]

I can't believe the NV GOP is giving Harry Reid a free ride after he won in 1998 by 428 votes.

[JohnnyZ]

What's with these reporters? One calls Thune "Phung", another calls Brad Carson "Greg Clarkson". Half of 'em spell Tenenbaum's name wrong, and the other half spell it "Erskine" instead of "Irksome" Bowles.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They must not be paying top dollar for their talent!

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Here:

http://www.jackwoodcock.com/

He's not a politican, but he has been mentioned as a possible candidate to take on Reid. Right now he looks to be the only one!!

[Impy]

Their attitude seems to be "he has so much clout, we can't lose him". Stupid idiots. Reid is the next minority leader.