Tea Party vows to oust Reid in 2016

A prominent Tea Party group on Thursday is launching an effort to drive Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from office in 2016.

The Tea Party Express, which failed to defeat Reid during his last reelection bid in 2010, is holding a press conference at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, in part to announce its plans to target the Democratic leader in the next election.

{mosads}“We fired him last night as Senate majority leader, now our focus is on retiring him once and for all,” Tea Party Express executive director Taylor Budowich told The Hill. “That’s what the Tea Party’s focus is gong to be right out of the gate. We aren’t going to be sitting on our hands waiting for a race to come to us.”

Reid has vowed to stay on as Democratic leader despite the party’s massive losses in the midterm elections.

Tea Party Express spent more than $1 million in 2010 trying to defeat Reid, only to see Republican Sharron Angle lose to him by almost 6 percentage points.

The event Thursday has been billed as a “unity press conference” in part to congratulate new officeholders, less than 48 hours after Republicans barnstormed their way to a majority in the Senate and increased their lead in the House.

Voters in Nevada on Tuesday overwhelmingly reelected Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), while state Rep. Cresent Hardy (R) snatched a House seat from the Democrats, giving the party three of four seats in the state. With the state trending red, Budowich argues that Reid’s seat is in play in 2016.

“Nevada joined in with the rest of the nation in demanding a new, conservative vision for America,” Budowich said in a release. “We must launch into 2016 with the same enthusiasm and motivation that defined 2014.”