The buzz is growing that former Republican Rep. Jon Porter is reconsidering an earlier decision to stay out of the Senate race against Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2010.
Chuck Muth, a longtime Republican operative in the state, said the word in Nevada GOP circles is that "Jon Porter is seriously talking about wanting to get into this race, after all."
Jon Porter (Getty Images/Ethan Miller)
Porter ruled out a challenge to Reid in June, but the lure of recent poll numbers showing Reid trailing several relatively unknown GOP challengerss are apparently proving hard to resist.
"He absolutely is talking to the folks at the senatorial committee and some money people," to see if there is an appetite for his candidacy, said Muth, who is heading up an anti-Reid political action committee, Dump Reid PAC, to raise money for his opponent.
Former National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Thomas M. Davis III told reporters earlier this month that Porter was opening the door to a Senate bid.
Porter did not return calls inquiring about his interest in the Senate race, and National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh would not comment on Porter specifically.
"There are any number of well-qualified candidates" who could run, Walsh said. "The reality is Sen. Reid is one of the most endangered incumbents up for re-election."
Porter's entry into the race would shake up the Republican primary, but it's not certain he would win the nomination. "I think it's probably too little, too late," said Muth.
Las Vegas real estate developer Danny Tarkanian, son of legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, leads a pack of GOP candidates who are already declared. Tarkanian and Sue Lowden, the Republican party chairwoman who is resigning her post to explore the race, both lead Reid in a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 14.
Lowden was in Washington, D.C. last week meeting with party leaders and plans to announce her candidacy after her resignation as party chair goes into effect in October. An advisor who declined to be identified so as to speak candidly said that Lowden's decision would not be affected by Porter joining the race. The advisor questioned how well Porter's candidacy would go over after he turned down previous overtures, and also said Porter could be hurt by the fact that he has opted to stay in Washington rather than return to Nevada since leaving politics.
Porter lost his last race for elective office, to Democrat Dina Titus in 2008, and has since joined the government affairs practice of the law firm Akerman Senterfitt. Porter is barred from lobbying his former colleagues on legislative matters for one year under congressional ethics rules, but his lobbying ties could still become a point of attack for Reid and Porter's prospective primary opponents.
CQ Politics rates the general election contest Leans Democratic.
To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Comments
Reid still has a chance because of his large campaign loot and some big issues (Health Care, Afghanistan, Iraq withdrawal, Cap and Trade) may move his way in 2010. However, his unfavorables are
off the chart and he DOESN'T have the personality
to win many new friends, his son looks like the Dem nominee for Governor and libertarian Nevadans don't much like dynasties, and his necessary molliying of the Left Democrats in the Senate make him look far left and a lap dog, to boot. What WILL it take for you at CQ to make this a toss-up?????
Posted by: Felix335
| September 22, 2009 3:32 AM
Post A Comment