LAS VEGAS--Outside political money is pouring into a race in Nevada to replace U.S. Democratic Senator Harry Reid, who is retiring and who told Reuters that the main reason his favoured successor isn't winning easily is cash from beyond the state's borders.
In a race that underscores the rise of outside money in U.S. campaign finance, as well as a key demographic challenge facing the Republican Party, Catherine Cortez Masto and Joe Heck are in a dead heat to replace the Senate's No. 1 Democrat.
Democrat Cortez Masto, 52, was a two-term Nevada attorney general. If she wins, she will be the first Latina elected to the U.S Senate. Republican Heck, 54, is a three-term House of Representatives member, physician and U.S. Army Reserve general.
Polls show a tight race, with the two tied at 37 percent of likely voters in a mid-August Suffolk University survey. The seat they are contesting is the only one in the Senate this year that Republicans have a truly good chance of flipping to their control from the Democrats. Doing so would shield Republicans' Senate majority, which is under threat elsewhere.
Saying in an interview that Heck's campaign is fueled by outside money, Reid, a former boxer, lashed out at the Koch brothers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove. "The Chamber of Commerce is nothing more than a front anymore for the Koch brothers. Karl Rove, he doesn't raise that money. He just goes to the Koch brothers. They're all fronts for the Koch brothers," said Reid, 76.
"Catherine's going to win. And if the Koch brothers weren't involved, she'd win by 15 points," Reid said. Charles and David Koch are wealthy industrialists who spend millions of dollars supporting libertarian-leaning candidates, mostly Republicans, through a network of groups, some operating under a law that lets them keep their donors' identities secret.
Reid, who now walks with a cane and often appears in dark sunglasses, has long warred with the Kochs. "We've certainly seen our fair share of criticism from Senator Reid. But we want to talk about the issues and he moves toward the politics of personal attacks," said James Davis, spokesman for the Koch-aligned Freedom Partners Action Fund.
The Supreme Court, in its 2010 Citizens United decision, opened the door to a tidal wave of political spending by corporations and labour unions on political causes and candidates, reshaping U.S. campaign finance. More than 20 political groups, including two Koch-aligned organizations and the Reid-aligned Senate Majority PAC, have poured well over $20 million into the Nevada Senate race so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending.
Overall, the spending favours Heck over Cortez Masto by nearly 2-to-1.
