U.S. Sen. Harry Reid

Two U.S. Senators are out of the gate with fundraising appeals aimed at stuffing U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s fundraising stocking.

“I can’t wait to get started working for the people of Oregon in the Senate, and I know I owe my success to the support of so many people from across Oregon and across the country,” U.S. Sen.-elect Jeff Merkley wrote in a fundraising letter today.

“Republicans are going after Harry Reid’s Senate seat in 2010, and we can’t afford to lose a great Democratic Leader. The election was just one month ago and the extreme right wing is already gearing up to attack Harry. I hope you will act today to make sure their attack strategy doesn’t work,” Merkley wrote.

U.S. Rep. Jon Porter is open to a 2010 run for U.S. Senate, he told the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call Monday.

"In January I'll take a look at the options that are out there," Porter said, according to the paper.

Porter, a three-term congressman, was ousted from his Las Vegas-area seat by Democrat Dina Titus in November. In the interview, Porter said he was currently focused on working with Titus in the transition effort.

Republicans have yet to find a candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. Since he announced interest in joining the race in November, Lt. Brian Krolicki has been hit with an indictment from the state Attorney General’s office stemming from his management of a student loan program.

Freedom’s Watch, the 501 (c4) organization heavily funded by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson and hyped as the conservative answer to MoveOn.org, is shutting its doors.

Ed Patru, Vice President of Communications for Freedom’s Watch, said in an interview that the organization would be effectively ceasing its operations at the end of the year.

The disbanding of Freedom’s Watch comes as Adelson, the organization’s leading benefactor, has seen his economic portfolio take a severe hit amid the economic downturn. In the last year alone, Sands Corp. has lost 95 percent of its stock value. It has been estimated that over the course of the year that Adelson’s net worth diminished by over $16 billion. The news comes several weeks after a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, citing anonymous sources, called Freedom’s Watch “pretty much kaput.”

If a new poll is any indication, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s path to re-election may not be as clear as his closest allies insist it is.

The survey, conducted by Research 2000 for the progressive blog Daily Kos found Reid narrowly leading Republican U.S. Rep. Jon Porter (R-Henderson) 46 percent to 40 percent in a prospective 2010 matchup. The poll also found Reid’s approval rating below the 40 percent mark.

How accurate a picture the survey provides is unclear. Using the Research 2000 firm, Daily Kos tested a smattering of races in 2008 with varying success. In Nevada, the site’s polling projected that Democrat Dina Titus would edge out Porter in the race for the state’s 2nd Congressional district 47 percent to 45 percent; Titus would end up winning 47 percent to 42 percent. But in the 3rd Congressional district, the site wrongly estimated one week before Election Day that Democrat Jill Derby was running neck-and-neck against Republican incumbent Dean Heller; Heller would emerge victorious by 10 points.

WASHINGTON – Nevada Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki confirmed in an interview Friday that he was inching closer to a 2010 challenge to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight), and said that he had begun the process of reaching out to national Republicans in an effort to lay the groundwork for a bid.

In a telephone interview, Krolicki said he was “doing the due diligence” of gauging support for a candidacy and talking to his family about the matter, but he suggested a bid was likely and said that any formal statement of candidacy would come at the beginning of the year.

On Thursday evening, the Associated Press reported that Krolicki was actively considering a run. But Krolicki said that he was “more than mulling,” adding, “I think we’d be very… credible.”

Early returns are showing Republican Dean Heller and Democrat Dina Titus leading in the races for the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts.

With 25.9 percent of the votes counted, Heller is leading Democrat Jill Derby 49.6 to 43.9 percent.

In the 3rd Congressional district, Titus is leading Republican incumbent Jon Porter 47.6 percent to 42.1 percent.

Democrat Barack Obama has been projected the winner in Nevada, adding the state’s 5 electoral votes to his winning majority.

With almost 12 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama had 58.5 percent of the vote to Republican John McCain’s 40 percent.

Elections officials are estimating that 75,000 people had turned out to the polls in Clark County today by 10:30, Jon Ralston is reporting in his Ralston Flash.

With 434,000 people in the state already voting early or by mail, turnout is now over the 500,000 mark.

Just over half of all active Nevada voters have already cast their ballots in early and absentee voting, but it's the half that has yet to vote that will make all the difference in two closely-watched Nevada congressional contests.

In the 2nd and 3rd districts, the campaigns for Democrats Jill Derby and Dina Titus both said they are happy with early voting figures showing Democrats participating at higher rates than Republicans. In Clark County, where Titus is running against third-term U.S. Rep. Jon Porter (R-Henderson), Democrats are trouncing Republicans 51 percent to 32 percent, according to early voting statistics. In Washoe County, where Derby is trying to oust freshman U.S. Rep. Dean Heller (R-Carson City), early-voting Democrats were outnumbering Republicans 45 percent to 38 percent.

An exit poll of early voters conducted by the Las Vegas-based DNA Communications Consulting Group on Oct. 28 showed Derby leading Heller 55 percent to 44 percent.

Terence Tolbert, who served as Nevada State Director for the Obama campaign, passed away from a heart attack Sunday night.

In a statement today, Obama said, “I was shocked and saddened to learn about the passing of our Nevada State Director, Terence Tolbert. Terence was a strong force in this campaign, with a positive outlook that brought people together. He was much loved by his team, who often repeated his motto of 'leave no stone unturned.'

“His enthusiasm, talent, and warm heart will truly be missed. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Obama-Biden family are with his wife and loved ones,” Obama said.