Donald Trump moves to quell infighting among members of his Republican Party
Donald Trump is looking to avoid more Republican infighting in Nevada ahead of the 2018 midterms as his party tries to recover from losses in recent special elections.
The President cleared the primary election path for one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans, Dean Heller, by convincing Mr Heller’s opponent to leave the Senate race and instead run for a seat in the House of Representatives.
Republican Danny Tarkanian of Las Vegas, who has frequently criticised Mr Heller for not doing enough to support Mr Trump, announced he is now running for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District at the President’s request.
“I am confident I would have won the US Senate race and done a great job representing the people of Nevada in the Senate, but the president is adamant that a unified Republican ticket in Nevada is the best direction for the America First movement,” Mr Tarkanian said in a statement.
The former basketball player has had several unsuccessful bids for public office in Nevada over the past decade.
His announcement came shortly after Mr Trump tweeted, “It would be great for the Republican Party of Nevada, and it’s unity if good guy Danny Tarkanian would run for Congress and Dean Heller, who is doing a really good job, could run for Senate unopposed!”
During most of Mr Trump’s first year as President, the US leader and Mr Heller appeared to have a rocky relationship.
Mr Heller had sharply criticised Mr Trump while the real estate mogul was running for President. Mr Trump then publicly scolded the senator last year for his hesitation to support a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
However, relations between the pair appear to have warmed in recent months, with Mr Heller working closely to help rewrite the US tax code.
The 57-year-old former stockbroker is the only Republican senator seeking re-election in a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Following Mr Tarkanian’s exit from the race, Mr Heller in now expected to easily win the Republican Party’s nomination this summer for Nevada’s Senate seat. But in November, he will still face a tough challenge from Democratic Congresswoman Jacky Rosen in an election that could help Democrats win control of the Senate.
After recent wins by Democrats in Republican-leaning districts, the GOP is preparing for tough midterm races this year.
The apparent victory of Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb this past week has only emboldened the blue party in its mission to recapture majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Mr Lamb won the congressional seat for a Pennsylvania district that Mr Trump had carried in 2016 by double digits, worrying Republicans about a possible Democratic wave in November.
