Jim Gibbons wants to take down Rep. Leonard L. Boswell, (D-Iowa).

Gibbons, a former championship wrestling coach at Iowa State University, is seeking the Republican nomination to oppose Boswell in the 3rd district in and around Des Moines.

Gibbons, who left coaching in 1992 and is now a financial adviser and television analyst, told The Iowa Republican blog that he is "concerned about the direction of the country. Spending is out of control in Washington; it's unsustainable."

Republican campaign strategists will have to scramble to find a new challenger to Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, after highly touted recruit John Guedry abruptly ended his campaign to unseat the 3rd District freshman.

The Las Vegas Sun reported late Friday that Guedry, a banker, issued a statement that read in part:

"I entered this race to help make our state and nation a better place for my family and future generations of Nevadans. Recent events have compelled me as a father and husband to end my campaign for public office and focus my attention on important issues closer to home."

Guedry, who formally launched his campaign just last month, did not elaborate on the "recent events" that precipitated his withdrawal from the contest in Nevada's 3rd, a partisan swing district that takes in a part of Las Vegas and much of the city's suburban population.

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) on Friday declared the Nevada race for governor as one of its top-tier contests for 2010 -- a move that was expected, given Republican incumbent Jim Gibbons' vulnerable position heading into the election year.

The DGA previously hesitated to officially target the Nevada race while the possibility of a competitive Democratic primary still loomed.

But that prospect was eliminated last week when state Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley announced she would not run. That has cleared the way for Rory Reid -- an officeholder in the Las Vegas region and son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- to stake his claim on the Democratic nomination.

"With no primary on the Democratic side, we will have a straight path to victory in Nevada," Nathan Daschle, the DGA's executive director, said in a release. "The DGA will fully engage politically with Commissioner Reid, helping him to build and execute a winning strategy. We believe that Nevada is ripe for Democratic leadership."

A 2010 campaign for governor of Nevada seems a near-certainty for Rory Reid, an elected official in the county that includes Las Vegas -- and son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

While the younger Reid has not announced his bid for the seat held by trouble-plagued Republican Jim Gibbons, he has hired a campaign manager with an eye-catching resume: David Chase Cohen, who worked on Barack Obama's presidential campaign as deputy national director of voter contact and then manager of general election direct mail in 16 "battleground" states.

Still, Reid, who currently serves as a Clark County commissioner, says he is in no rush to make things official. "I'm leaning toward running, but it's still too premature for me to make an announcement," he told CQ Politics in a phone interview on Wednesday. "People out here want to enjoy their summers right now, not hear from politicians."

Nevada Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons blasted President Obama for headlining a Las Vegas fundraiser last month for Majority Leader Harry Reid, the four-term senator from Nevada.

Now Gibbons' wife, Dawn, has jumped onto the Harry Reid re-election bandwagon. The move is not as surprising as it might first appear, though: the ex-first couple is embroiled in a bitter and public divorce.

Dawn Gibbons' endorsement of Reid is particularly interesting because Reid's son, Rory, chairman of the Clark County (Las Vegas) Commission, is said to be considering a run for governor in 2010 that could turn into a challenge to Jim Gibbons. The first-term governor's poll numbers are abysmal and he faces a lawsuit brought by a former cocktail waitress who has accused him of assaulting her in a Las Vegas parking lot -- so Democrats are hoping he stays in the 2010 race, even though a number of fellow Republicans are trying to urge him out.