Heller Was Poised To Challenge Ensign In Primary
By Elizabeth Crum / Nevada News Bureau
During a brief interview with Congressman Dean Heller a few moments ago, Heller laughingly called his U.S. Senate run “the worst kept secret in Nevada” and said that for the past many months his team “had anticipated we would be running against Ensign in the primary.”
Indeed, Heller’s well-tooled, warm-and-fuzzy campaign website and already emailed fundraiser invitation to major donors show he has been working on his Senate campaign for some time.
Heller said he “probably would not have announced for another couple of months” were it not for the scandal-plagued Ensign’s recent announcement not to seek a third term, confirming speculation about the timing of his own announcement to run for Senate.
Heller will not be holding a formal press conference, but instead will be talking to reporters one-on-one and doing numerous radio and television appearances in the coming weeks.
The Congressman would neither confirm nor deny whether he has had recent conversations with Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, Sharron Angle and/or other Nevada Republicans about their own possible senatorial ambitions — but of course he has, and those conversations will surely continue as we wait to see who else will try to become Nevada’s next senator.