Heck Swaps Nevada Governor Race for Titus Challenge

By Emily Cadei | October 6, 2009 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just over a week after their initial recruit dropped out, Republicans nabbed a new candidate to run against Democratic Rep. Dina Titus in Nevada's 3rd District.

Former state Sen. Joe Heck announced Tuesday on a local radio station that he was switching gears to the House race from the 2010 governor's contest, where he trailed several other candidates in GOP primary polls. National Republican Congressional Campaign communications director Ken Spain called Heck "an even better candidate" than John Guedry, a local banker who dropped out of the race Sept. 25 for family reasons.

The 3rd, representing part of Las Vegas and a big portion of its suburbs in Clark County, is a classic swing district and is expected to produce a tight contest again in 2010. Titus defeated Republican Rep. Jon Porter 47 percent to 42 percent in 2008.

Heck, a physician from Henderson, Nev., was elected to the state Senate, representing part of Clark County, in 2004. He lost by less than a percentage point to Democrat Shirley Breeden in 2008. Republicans on Tuesday were touting Heck's medical background, calling him, in the words of NRCC spokeswoman Joanna Burgos, "a leader who truly wants to lower healthcare costs."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokseman Andy Stone promptly put out a statement noting that Heck was "rejected by the voters in Senate District 5, he was being rejected by voters in the Governor's race," and predicted "he will be rejected by voters in the Third District."

CQ POlitics rates the general election contest Leans Democratic.

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