Steve Platt

Republican Congressman Dean HellerLas Vegas- Although the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries are still far from over, results from those races may be pointing to a tougher-than-expected reelection campaign for Congressman Dean Heller (R-NV) in the largely rural 2nd Congressional District.

The trouble for Heller, several observers believe, would come from the combination of a win in the Democratic primary for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and a lingering disaffection among Nevada Republicans over the loss of former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney in the GOP primaries.

“In Congressional District 2, most of the counties went to Barack Obama [in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses],” said Steve Platt, chairman of the Carson City Democratic Party.  “He was able to pull independents and Republicans in a pretty conservative congressional district to his side.”

Jack Carter, the 2006 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, endorsed Barack Obama's presidential campaign today.

Carter, the son of former president Jimmy Carter, said it was  the "constant refrain to join together to fight the divisiveness in Washington", that impressed him about Obama.

Along with Carter the Obama campaign also announced other endorsements from prominent Nevadans including these:  read more »

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on a campaign swing through Nevada in June

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is placing all his chips on the January 19th Nevada Caucus in hopes that a win here may catapult him to the Democratic nomination.

Richardson has so far failed to draw the national media spotlight that rivals Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, and former Sen. John Edwards have enjoyed. This, in turn, has had a negative effect on both his fundraising and name recognition. To date, he has raised more than $18.5 million for his campaign and usually polls in the low-to-high single digits, numbers that are dwarfed by frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s $90 million and unarguable polling strength.