Senator Dean Heller listens to speakers during a dedication ceremony for the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Las Vegas Medical Center (VASNHS) in North Las Vegas Monday, August 6, 2012.
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 | 9:34 a.m.
Sen. Dean Heller failed in his ambitious bid to lead the Republican Senate’s 2016 campaign strategy.
Heller’s Republican colleagues voted by secret ballot today on their leadership team for the next Congress.
The Nevada Republican, a first-term senator, put himself out on a limb in running for the job to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“I know I probably put myself out there a little too early,” Heller said after the vote, adding that “seniority means a lot in the United States Senate.”
His colleagues chose Sen. Roger Wicker, a second-term senator from Mississippi, to lead them in what is expected to be a tough 2016 election cycle for Republicans. Heller said he believes many senators from the South, a stronghold for Republicans, voted for Wicker.
The chair of the NRSC is in charge of recruiting candidates and leading fundraising for Senate Republicans. It’s the sixth-highest position in the Senate.
It will be a difficult job this go-around. Republicans must defend 24 seats, several in states that went for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, to keep their newfound majority.
Heller, a former stockbroker, pitched himself as someone who could raise money from western states.
“I think we leave a lot of money on the table in California,” he said. “It takes a westerner to raise money from the West.”
Heller was appointed to the Senate in 2011 and won his first election in 2012. He’s up for reelection in 2018.
Nevada’s former Republican senator, John Ensign, held the NRSC role in 2008. But his career began to crumble soon after amid an affair and hush-money scandal. He resigned in 2011, which is when Heller came to the Senate.
The NRSC role would have pitted Heller directly against his senior colleague from Nevada, Democrat Sen. Harry Reid. Reid is expected to run for his sixth term in 2016 and will be Republicans’ top target.
Heller said Wednesday he is actively recruiting Gov. Brian Sandoval to challenge Reid. Sandoval would be a formidable opponent: The popular Nevada Republican governor won reelection Nov. 4 with more than 70 percent of the vote.
When asked if defeating Reid was still one his top priorities, Heller said, “I’m committed to keeping the majority.”
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