Republican Attorney General Adam Laxalt hasn't publicly said much about his 2018 plans, but all signs point to him running for governor of Nevada. Last month, Sen. Dean Heller decided to seek re-election rather than campaign for the governor's office, and Jon Ralston wrote that Laxalt “indicated” that he might run for the state’s top job even if Heller did too. A little while later, Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison also announced that he wouldn’t seek the GOP nod either.
This week, we also learned that Laxalt raised a hefty $1.2 million during 2016, more money than any Nevada Republican has ever raised this far from Election Day: Laxalt could use the money to run for re-election or for governor. Robert Uithoven, a Laxalt consultant, also says that while his 2018 “decision is yet to be made,” Laxalt’s viability for a successful campaign in either office is without question.” Every cycle, there are always plenty of politicians who look poised to run for office but surprisingly back out, so nothing’s guaranteed. But if Laxalt isn’t a gubernatorial candidate, he’s doing a convincing job playing one.
While termed-out GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval has a reputation as a moderate, Laxalt has a very different profile. Laxalt became an ardent Donald Trump supporter once Trump wrapped up the GOP nod, and as Ralston put it, the attorney general likes to hold himself out as Nevada's "One True Conservative." Democrats may have an easier time against a creature of the far-right like Laxalt than they may have against Heller or Hutchison, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be a pushover. 2018 will also be the first time that Nevada Democrats have needed to run without Harry Reid and his top aides leading their formidable voter turnout effort.
The Democratic field is also only slowly taking shape here. Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak is the only Silver State Democrat to publicly talk about running, and he has about $3 million in the bank that he can transfer to a gubernatorial campaign. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sisolak expects to announce his plans by the end of April. However, state Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford hasn’t ruled out his own bid, while rich guy Steve Cloobeck is reportedly trying to convince Ford and Sisolak to defer to him.