Sue Lowden announced Wednesday night that she was stepping down from her post as chairwoman of the Nevada Republican party as she explores a challenge to Sen. Harry Reid.
Lowden told party leaders on a regularly-scheduled conference call that she would be departing Sept. 30. "The reason for my decision is that I am currently testing the waters on the possibility of running for U.S. Senate," Lowden said in a release. "Because we already have some announced Republican candidates for the 2010 Senate campaign, I believe it is important to remove any perceptions of possible conflicts with my duties as Chairman."
Lowden didn't give any indication of which way she was leaning on the Senate race, but did say she plans "to stay as engaged as ever, fighting for the issues that affect us all."
With Republican 2nd District Rep. Dean Heller out of the Senate running, Lowden has emerged as best hope among a field of Republican challengers looking to upset Reid. The GOP believes Reid is extremely vulnerable in 2010 given his low approval numbers among the state's voters, but has yet to come up with a big-name challenger.
A recent poll from Mason Dixon Polling released by the Las Vegas Review Journal indicates they may not need to. The poll shows Reid trailing both Lowden and declared GOP challenger Danny Tarkanian, a Las Vegas real estate developer and son of famed college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, despite the fact that neither has particularly strong name recognition in the state.
Reid hasn't helped his cause lately, either, stirring up controversy over an exchange with a Las Vegas Review-Journal employee and his public pronouncements on health care and town hall protesters.
CQ Politics rates the general eleciton contest Leans Democratic.
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