Democrats avoid primary mess in Nevada

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) will forgo a run at the Senate in 2016, clearing a path to the Democratic nomination for Sen. Harry Reid’s handpicked successor, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

“I just love representing Nevada’s 1st District,” Titus said in a video posted online late Tuesday. “No matter where I go in the world, when I say I represent Las Vegas, everybody knows where that is.”

{mosads}“We must keep fighting to help the middle class get ahead and stay ahead, to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and to take proper care of our veterans, to make college more affordable, to protect Social Security and Medicare, and to ensure equal rights for all people,” she continued. “That’s why I’m running for reelection in Nevada’s 1st District.”

Titus’s exit avoids what could have been a messy primary for Democrats in a state they must hold on to if they hope to reclaim a majority in the Senate in 2016.

When Reid announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t seek a sixth term in office, he quickly moved to back Masto, who would become the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Senate if she won the seat.

“If she runs, I’m going to help her,” Reid said at the time. “Whoever runs against Catherine will be a loser.”

But Titus continued to openly mull running for Senate; political watchers in the state noted that she has bucked Reid’s campaign wishes in the past.

In 2012, Reid pushed Titus to seek a rematch against Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.), who defeated her in 2010. Instead, she ran for her current House seat, winning easily in a safe Democratic district and pushing out a Reid-backed candidate.

In addition, Titus’s involvement in the Senate race could have set up a proxy war in Nevada between Reid and Hillary Clinton, who is far and away the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president next year.

Titus is actively working with Clinton’s political team in Nevada to help her carry the state in the 2016 general election, and the Clintons are known for being loyal to their allies.

Still, it would have been risky for Clinton to throw her weight behind Titus. It would have set up a primary clash with Reid, who has a far stronger political network in Nevada than Titus.

And Clinton probably would have been hesitant to oppose a high-profile Hispanic candidate in a year when Hispanic voters could decide the next president.

Instead, Masto now seems on her way to facing whichever Republican candidate emerges from what could be a crowded primary.

Reid praised Titus’s decision in a statement released Tuesday.

“Dina Titus has done a remarkable job representing Nevada in the House of Representatives and I know she will continue to do so for a long time,” he said. “Representing the first district, Dina will be able to gain crucial seniority on committees and ensure our small state has a voice on issues affecting us. She will continue the work she has done for decades: fiercely fighting for Nevada. She and Tom have been my friends for many years and I so appreciate their public service to our state and our country.”

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval (Nev.) appears likely to remain in his current job, although he’s extremely popular in Nevada and would be the front-runner to win the Senate seat if he were to run.

About a half-dozen other Republicans in the state are waiting for Sandoval to officially bow out before deciding for sure whether to enter the race. Heck, an Iraq War veteran and proven fundraiser from a swing-district, is considered by some observers to be the strongest among them.

Along with Colorado, Nevada is one of the only Senate races in the country where Republicans have a real shot at flipping a Democratically held seat.