Source: Harry Reid considered not running for fifth term

By David McGrath Schwartz

Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 | 2 a.m.

In the summer and fall of 2008, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had several conversations with his son Rory Reid in which they discussed plans for the future, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

During the conversations, Harry Reid told Rory Reid, a Clark County commissioner, that it was unlikely he would seek a fifth term in the U.S. Senate and encouraged his son to run for governor, the source said.

With the understanding that he and his father wouldn’t share the top of the 2010 Democratic ticket, the younger Reid set in motion his failed bid for governor, according to the source. Rory Reid didn’t think his father would be on the ballot, the source said, speaking anonymously because of the sensitive nature of the family discussions.

A spokesman for Harry Reid denied the source’s account of the conversations and said the senator did not encourage his son to run for governor.

“Rory knew from the very beginning that Sen. Reid was running for re-election,” Jon Summers said in an e-mail. “Sen. Reid was very clear publicly and privately early on that he was running. This was never in question. Period.”

Rory Reid declined to comment, saying he wouldn’t publicly discuss personal conversations with his father.

Tension between the two campaigns arose more than a year before Election Day, the inevitable result of the awkward situation. The Senate majority leader’s campaign was scrapping to overcome his unpopularity and recognizing Rory, as a candidate, was a political liability. Meanwhile, Rory Reid was confronting the impressive candidacy of Brian Sandoval and voters’ distaste for a Reid dynasty in the making.

Given that dynamic, it was a mystery to many in Nevada politics why Rory Reid chose to run for governor at this time.

If the commissioner had understood he would be the only family member on the ballot, it might explain why he began working in earnest as early as 2007 on a run for governor. “At the beginning of the race, (Rory Reid) was led to believe, there would not be two Reids as an issue,” the source said.

On Nov. 2, Rory Reid lost by 11 points to Sandoval, who left a lifetime appointment as a federal judge — appointed on Harry Reid’s recommendation — in September 2009 to run for governor.

Harry Reid defeated GOP nominee Sharron Angle by more than 5 points.

Once it was clear both Reids would be on the ballot, senior advisers to the senator made it clear to Rory Reid and others that they believed he was hurting his father’s chances for re-election. In September 2009, the Sun quoted sources close to the senator’s campaign saying the issue was “gnawing” at the campaign and that his advisers were befuddled over how to address it, for fear of angering the senator.

Billy Vassiliadis, a senior adviser to Harry Reid who also advised Rory Reid, was the most vocal member of the inner circle in declaring that two Reids shouldn’t be running. “I didn’t think both Reids should be on the ballot. I expressed it to both. I’ve always thought it would hurt both of them,” he said this week.

There is no evidence that Harry Reid’s campaign, or the majority leader himself, ever overtly worked to hurt his son’s campaign. But like any campaign staff, its priority was first and foremost getting its candidate elected.

“The two campaigns ran completely independently and solely focused on turning out their supporters,” Summers said in the e-mail. “Any claim that Sen. Reid did anything to harm Rory’s campaign is beyond ridiculous.”

The Nevada Democratic Party, which Harry Reid helped fund and build into a powerful vote-producing machine, was primarily focused on the U.S. Senate race.

“Everybody knew from the start the state party was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Harry Reid campaign,” one Democratic operative said. “It was his (Harry Reid’s) interests above all others. If that meant sacrificing Dina Titus, Assembly Democrats, Senate Democrats, Rory Reid, any of them, for Harry to win, that’s what it meant.”

Harry Reid, the most powerful politician to ever come out of Nevada, started building the party in earnest in 2004 when he recognized his position of prominence would make him a top Republican target. Summers said his boss had a campaign manager on the ground more than 18 months ago, before Rory Reid had formally announced his bid for governor.

But Rory Reid’s interest in the Governor’s Mansion was apparent as early as fall 2007 when Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons entered his four-year term with a series of missteps portending a rocky tenure that would make him an inviting target for an ambitious Democrat.

About this time Rory Reid began laying the groundwork by forming political alliances with powerful national figures. As the state prepared for its first-ever early presidential caucus, he became state chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The position caused headaches for his father, who had pledged to remain neutral and had to assure the three other Democratic senators in the presidential race that he wasn’t choosing sides.

Rory Reid started raising money for his gubernatorial bid in 2008. Bolstered by $10,000 checks from prominent Nevadans and casino properties, he had raised $700,000 by that December. He continued raising money in early 2009 and by the time Sandoval announced he was leaving the federal bench — instantly taking away Rory Reid’s front-runner status — Rory Reid had about $3 million.

Rory Reid appeared to have too much invested to back out.

Harry Reid’s decision to run was a gradual process, according to a source close to the campaign, but by summer 2009 it was clear he was fully committed to seeking re-election.

By then Rory Reid “was the presumptive nominee with a significant financial advantage,” the source said.

That “was before it was apparent that his father’s negatives would stick to him like white on rice,” the source added. “There was absolutely no oxygen in the room for any race other than the Reid-Angle race.”

Harry Reid’s senior advisers said the Senate majority leader never discussed with them a scenario in which he would not seek re-election.

Vassiliadis said: “I have never, ever in the past two years been involved in a part of a conversation about Harry Reid that wasn’t a discussion of putting the pieces together for his re-election. I don’t see how (Harry Reid) could walk away from his leadership. He’s the consummate, ultimate fighter.”

Vassiliadis did, however, add: “He thinks out loud. Were there moments of fatigue where he may have said, ‘I don’t know if I can do it anymore’? Was (Harry’s wife and Rory’s mother) Landra tired of fishbowl life? It’s just speculation.”