Gov. Brian Sandoval (R. NV)
They're wasting no time on this:
http://www.politico.com/...
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller and Senate Republicans are beginning to press GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval to jump into the 2016 race against Sen. Harry Reid.
Heller, who is running for chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Wednesday that “of course” he reached out to Sandoval and urged him to consider a bid against Reid, the outgoing majority leader who plans to remain as Democratic leader in the Senate minority. Other Senate Republicans have also begun the outreach, Heller and GOP aides said.
“We’ll wait, we will see what he wants to do,” Heller told reporters on Wednesday outside of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office. “I’m not sure he’s made a decision up to this point. I’m not the only one having conversations with him. Others are too. We will give him a little bit of time to do that.”
Sandoval, a popular moderate governor who skated to reelection last week, would be the biggest prize for Senate Republicans who have failed repeatedly to knock off the wily Reid. But Republicans are skeptical Sandoval will mount a bid. Moreover, it’s not clear yet whether Reid will run for reelection in 2016, though he is making every indication that he plans to at the moment.
How Heller, the junior Nevada senator, handles Reid has been a chief question as he mounts a bid for the NRSC chair against Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker.
Wicker backers argue Heller won’t be tough enough and would struggle to raisemoney in Las Vegas, where Reid controls the purse strings. Heller, however, contends he would make defeating Reid in 2016 a top priority and would not struggle to raise cash. - Politico, 11/12/14
We'll see what happens with this race but one thing's for sure, the GOP can't attack Reid on this anymore:
http://www.christianpost.com/...
Republicans can no longer blame Harry Reid for their failure to repeal or defund ObamaCare. They can't just take symbolic votes and complain (not too loudly) when bills get bottled up in the Senate. It's on them now.
ObamaCare is deeply unpopular. Millions have already been hurt by it, and the real pain will begin now that the election is over. Millions of insurance cancellations, IRS penalties, and sticker shock for renewal premiums are about to hit.
And that's just the financial pain. Loss of access to physicians and hospitals, and the diversion of physicians' attention to rule compliance instead of patient needs are harder to measure. It's also harder to blame the government instead of doctors.
Not all of these problems are from ObamaCare alone, but can be traced to previous laws such as the HITECH Act and other "incentives" for physicians to buy expensive, error-ridden computer systems and follow protocols—or else be punished. - The Christian Post, 11/11/14
And just because Reid is now the Minority Leader doesn't mean he won't have some influence:
http://online.wsj.com/...
Republicans repeatedly sought to eliminate the 2.3% tax on medical devices and authorize construction of the pipeline. But as majority leader, Mr. Reid blocked those measures from passing, even though both had the support of some Democrats, as he tried to avoid difficult votes before the 2014 elections, when Democrats had a disproportionate number of seats to defend.
But Mr. Reid is a skilled tactician who can keep his party in line when he feels something important is at stake. The last time Mr. Reid was a minority leader, he blocked former President George W. Bush from partially privatizing Social Security by asking Democrats to hold fast against the plan, even though some Democrats were open to the idea.
Similarly, during last year’s government shutdown Mr. Reid persuaded Democrats to resist going along with House Republican plans to reopen the government on a piecemeal basis, arguing that Democrats risked undercutting their goals if Congress held individual votes on whether each agency deserved to reopen while lawmakers worked out a government-wide funding plan.
He won that battle, with his Democratic colleagues resisting the temptation to immediately reopen facilities in their own states.
Knowing when to ask Democrats to stick together and when to let them vote their own interests will be a challenge, especially given the makeup of the new Democratic caucus.
As the country has become more politically polarized, the liberal wing of the Democratic caucus has started to flex its muscle alongside centrists who are more willing to work with Republicans. Negotiating between the two camps—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) on the liberal end of the spectrum and Ms. Heitkamp and Mr. Manchin in the center—won’t be easy.
Aides and colleagues expect Mr. Reid to stay flexible, giving Democrats freedom but pushing for party-line discipline when needed.
“In the end, Senator Reid understands that members have to do what they have to do,” said Jim Manley, a former aide to Mr. Reid. “You don’t find Reid drawing lines in the sand very often.” - Wall Street Journal, 11/11/14
Right now, Reid knows what he wants to get done during the lame duck session and he could be back as the Majority Leader again come 2017. Until then, click here to get involved with his campaign so he can be ready to fight:
http://www.harryreid.com/