By Michael Mishak (contact)

Fri, Sep 5, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Republican Rep. Dean Heller said Thursday his party’s nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president this week completes what he sees as a “Western” ticket that will help carry him to reelection in November.

Palin, a former small-town mayor elected to the Alaska governor’s office in 2006, understands Western issues, such as energy, water and agriculture, Heller said. “I see this presidential race being West vs. East, urban vs. rural,” he said. “Nobody reflects my district better today than Sarah Palin,” he said.

Heller’s comments came during a taping of the public affairs program “Face to Face,” hosted by Sun columnist Jon Ralston and aired on Las Vegas ONE.

Heller faces Democratic challenger Jill Derby in a reprise of their battle two years ago, when Heller, Nevada’s former secretary of state, bested Derby, a former university regent, by 5 percentage points. Derby beat expectations in that run, running a Western-flavored campaign (“Boot ’Em”’ was her campaign slogan) in the state’s largely rural 2nd Congressional District.

Heller brings the power of incumbency and the accompanying financial edge. But the Democrats’ early presidential caucus — and its attendant voter registration surge — convinced Derby to try again. In 2006, Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the district by 48,300 voters. (Heller won by 12,575 votes.) Democrats have since cut that registration edge to 29,400 voters.

Derby, who oversaw the caucus as chairwoman of the state party, was also heartened by the competitive campaigns of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which set up precinct-level organizations in the state’s reddest counties.

A Reno Gazette-Journal poll last month showed Heller leading by 5 percentage points.

On Thursday, Heller said Sen. John McCain’s choice of Palin was “brilliant.” “It’s going to be great for my congressional district and great for the state of Nevada,” he said. Republicans lag behind Democrats in organizational strength statewide, but Heller said Palin’s nomination “bolstered and strengthened” the party, energizing Republicans not altogether thrilled with McCain.

Like Democrats nationally, Derby has linked the incumbent to the unpopular Bush presidency, saying Heller has supported the administration 92 percent of the time. “Where he may have been thought of as a maverick and a moderate, that’s not even in question anymore. He certainly is not,” Derby told Ralston in a separate appearance this week. “He’s worked lock-step with his party.”

Heller countered, saying, “I look at what’s best for the state of Nevada.” He noted his opposition to Bush-backed immigration reform, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Heller called it “amnesty” on Thursday.

Derby also hit Heller for voting against Nevadans’ interests, citing his opposition to an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which she said would have provided health care to 70,000 Nevada children.

Heller said he voted against the bill because it included $10 billion “to pay for health care for those in this country illegally.” This is a Democratic agenda by (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and I’m not supporting her,” he said.

On energy, Heller attacked Derby for placing conditions on her support for offshore oil drilling. Derby supports drilling “responsibly” with “low environmental risk potential.” “There’s a lot of energy we’re not tapping into in this country,” Heller said. “My opponent and many Democrats are embarrassed by the natural resources we have. Responsible drilling means no drilling.”

Derby is one of two congressional candidates in Nevada selected by the national Democratic Party to receive strategic and fundraising help. The other is state Sen. Dina Titus, running against Rep. Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District.