It's just funny to see Republicans turning Elizabeth Halseth into a campaign circle. But then again, I guess one could argue that this is just the Halseth story coming around full circle. Originally, she ran against a scandal plagued "establishment backed" incumbent as a "tea party" insurgent, then defeated him by questioning his "moral values". She then became a "tea party" favorite in Carson City and a fast rising Republican star.
But then, she vanished. And after several weeks of speculation and desperate moves by Senate Republican Leader Michael Roberson to keep her redesigned Senate seat off the table, Halseth resigned. That immediately put SD 9 into play and hurt Roberson's hopes of becoming Majority Leader.
So now, we have some deja vu. While there is no incumbent here, Mari Nakashima St. Martin is the Republican establishment favored candidate. She has their Senate Caucus' endorsement, and party leaders tried hard to coalesce the base behind her. But since she refuses to sign the Chuck Muth/Grover Norquist tax pledge, the "tea party" has gone all in for one of their own, Brent Jones. And now, Jones' allies are trying to pin scandals onto St. Martin. Again, it's starting to feel like deja vu here.
Funny enough, there is a twist here. This time around, Democrats found a top notch recruit in Justin Jones. And with Nevada Democrats ramping up field operations across the state for races all over the ballot, SD 9 may finally turn Blue this fall.
This is what has Nevada Republicans freaking out. Yet again, they have a bruising primary in SD 9 to survive. And this time, they must worry about the general election as well. Could this somehow be karmic revenge?
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