Whoa. Is the top Democratic candidate challenging GOP Rep. Jon Porter on the verge of dropping out of the race? That’s what the Ralton Flash says. Here’s the House Race Hotline (sub. NOT req’d, for now) summary:
Clark Co. prosecutor Robert Daskas (D) is “on verge of dropping out of race” against Rep. Jon Porter (R), according to NV analyst Jon Ralston. An announcement is “expected soon,” but he’s likely to cite “personal reasons” for dropping the race. The DCCC is “already courting” state Senate Min. Leader/’06 GOV nominee Dina Titus (D).
If accurate, this would be a big setback for Democrats. Daskas’ fundraising pace has been decent, and he’s sitting on $450K cash-on-hand as of April 1st (good enough to earn him a 44% CoH competitiveness rating), and any late-entering challenger would start out well behind the curve in the money race.
Dina Titus has already declined a chance to run against Porter this cycle, so I’m not sure if she’d be a willing replacement here.
If confirmed, this would be a disturbing turn of events in this D+1 district.
UPDATE: Yup, he’s definitely out. Here’s the statement from the Daskas campaign:
Citing family considerations, Robert Daskas has announced his decision to withdraw his candidacy for Nevada’s Third Congressional District. The Daskas campaign has every confidence that another strong, viable candidate will enter the race and unseat incumbent Jon Porter. Daskas thanks everyone for their support and asks supporters to stay focused on the common goal of changing our representative in the Third Congressional District. Democrats now hold a 22,500 voter registration advantage over Republicans in the district.
Nevada’s filing deadline: May 16
Later Update: The Politico says that Titus is in:
Democrats have already recruited a new candidate, Nevada Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, who may announce as soon as tomorrow that she’s entering the race. Titus has statewide name recognition, and Democrats hope that she can raise enough money quickly to challenge Porter in November.
“Dina Titus would be an excellent candidate with unparalleled experience and support from people in Nevada’s 3rd congressional district,” DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Her vision, strength, and ability to get things done for Nevada would make her a powerful voice for change.”
Not good news, especially the timing. Similar problem in WV-02 where the anointed one bailed at the last minute. But at least in WV-02 they had a willing challenger in Barth who jumped in and did a respectable amount of fundraising.
The problem here is we are fliritng with May. Wasted almost half a year.
If you are not going to run a race, then don’t. What a horrible time to drop out.
This is going to be one of the most targeted districts in the entire presidential race and would be a top pick up. Now we will see.
If Dina Titus runs and runs hard it could still be a race. But we will see.
What can Daskas do with the money. Can he transfer it all to another canidate or does he have to send it to the DCCC if he wants to keep the money in the race.
Wasn’t there a state legislator/waitress who was being talked up last year? I remember that she was a lead negotiator in some labor contract negotiations (or something along the lines) and she sounded like an interesting candidate.
Dana Titus is a good candidate. She has big name recognition from her recent run for governor. It would have been better if she had started maybe six months ago, but this seems like a good trade to me. Porter is on the ropes. His district is turning blue, and he didn’t even get 50% of the vote last time.
for Governor who just barely lost in 06, and a prominent State Senator, (minority leader), is a far stronger candidate. She has a lot more fundraising connections, and really gets progressives out to the polls voting. So the only question is over who wins independants, because Porter is really closer to the center than Titus, but is weighed down by his support for Bush and the Iraq war.
Perhaps she’s a significantly better candidate than Daskas? It would’ve been nice, though, to have Daskas’ cash…
Though the D-Trip is no doubt gonna commit heavily.
Does anyone have numbers in district for her run for governor? I would assume she won the district, would that be wrong?
She would at least seem like a very strong canidate. Minority leader, 06 governor canidate would would win if the election were held today, DNC member. Sounds good to me.
to where I don’t need to throw my rankings all over the place. (haha) But hopefully she can prove stronger than Daskas and win. Then I don’t care.
since Porter has a million in the bank and Titus starts off at zero. And don’t expect much help from the DCCC, this is a third-tier pickup possibility.