Dean Heller: Nevada Senate race won’t be easy

Heller was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-Nev.) after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) resigned in May. He is running for his first regular term in 2012.

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), who served in Nevada’s delegation with Heller when he was a representative, is running to stop Heller from securing a full term.

“They will have a very, very clear choice. She’s not for lower taxes, she’s not for smaller government, she embraces all regulations,” he said, positioning himself as Berkley’s ideological opposite.

{mosads}Heller said he believed the real showdown would occur in Clark County, specifically in Las Vegas, where Heller was addressing GOP activists Friday at the Western Republican Leadership Conference.

Clark County, Nevada’s most populous, leans Democratic. Yet in a bad omen for Democrats, Republican Mark Amodei won the county by more than 23 points in a Sept. 14 special House election against Democrat Kate Marshall.