Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Segerblom: If no other Dems run against Sandoval in 2014, I reluctantly will

Tick Segerblom

Tick Segerblom

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, likes to joke that he’ll be the next governor of Nevada.

“What happens if you announce you're running for governor and no one shows up to hear you?” he tweeted from a fundraiser in Las Vegas.

Segerblom, however, said at the fundraiser that he’s “actively not running” and is instead raising money for fellow Democrats and for his annual Christmas card, which he uses to send liberal messages to his constituents.

But the outspoken Democrat won’t rule out a run for governor in 2014.

“I’ve said publicly that if no one else ran and people wanted me to run, I would do it,” he said, noting that he thinks County Commissioner Steve Sisolak will be the Democratic candidate for the 2014 election.

Political observers expect that a Democrat with the backing of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the Nevada Democratic Party will eventually challenge Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who’s been fundraising, securing commitments from donors, appearing at events and watching his popularity numbers rise as he runs for re-election.

But Democrats haven’t thrown their weight behind anybody yet.

Only one candidate, Chris Hyepock, has announced a bid for governor in 2014.

“There’s got to be lots of great people out there — Shelley Berkley, somebody,” Segerblom said. “But we have to have a candidate.”

Although Segerblom jokes that he’ll run for governor if Reid wants him to, he says speculation about his potential gubernatorial bid has more to do with the media than anything else.

“I think it’s just the press because they would love somebody who makes wild comments so it would keep them in business,” he said.

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