What could Dean Heller have done differently to win?

[Blair]

Claiming that Heller should have hugged Trump (and pointing to the success in other senate seats) completely ignores that Trump didn't win Nevada in 2016.

As Jon Ralston says Heller took a completely spineless stance on Obamacare, and never really wanted to run for the Senate in 2018.

[completely dead account]

Claiming that Heller should have hugged Trump (and pointing to the success in other senate seats) completely ignores that Trump didn't win Nevada in 2016.

As Jon Ralston says Heller took a completely spineless stance on Obamacare, and never really wanted to run for the Senate in 2018.

He didn't want to run? How do you know?

[Coldstream]

Go back in time and join the Democrats.

[KaiserDave]

Time machine and become a Democrat
OR
Rig it for Clinton

[Roronoa D. Law]

Hire McCrae Dowless

[Young Conservative]

Had Heller been a major Trump enthusiast instead of a wishy-washy type in 2016, he may have survived.  No one likes a wishy-washy partisan.

Or just never commented. Just gone the Toomey route of "ill vote for the Republican nominee. I like the policies." Then stopped.

[Pericles]

If Heller hadn't buckled under Trump's pressure and opposed every Obamacare repeal bill, he may have had a shot-that issue was a big weakness for him and he was hurt by being labelled as 'Senator Spineless'. Probably not enough on its own but that did have a significant negative impact on his chances.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Not vote for skinny repeal

Not vote for Kavanaugh

This. Heller losing by 5 points despite voting for Kavanaugh kind of disproves the notion that the Kavanaugh thing was a huge boon for Republicans.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Not vote like he was representing Utah instead of Nevada?

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

Claiming that Heller should have hugged Trump (and pointing to the success in other senate seats) completely ignores that Trump didn't win Nevada in 2016.

As Jon Ralston says Heller took a completely spineless stance on Obamacare, and never really wanted to run for the Senate in 2018.

A lot of MAGAts on Twitter were saying the same thing about Hugin distancing himself from Trump in New Jersey

[lfromnj]

How would Sandoval have done if he managed to win the primary

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

Rig the 2016 election for Clinton.

[IceSpear]

Not vote for skinny repeal

Not vote for Kavanaugh

This. Heller losing by 5 points despite voting for Kavanaugh kind of disproves the notion that the Kavanaugh thing was a huge boon for Republicans.

Uh, nobody ever suggested Kavanaugh would help the Republicans in Nevada. But it certainly did help them in the crimson red states like Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota, Tennessee, etc. which were where Senate control was decided.

[Sir Mohamed]

NOTA. It's becoming increasingly difficult to overcome partisan leanings of most states, especially in senate races, which are, other than gubernatorial elections, more and more nationalized. Dems just don't win in red states any more and GOPers don't win in blue states. In NJ, for example, Hugin failed against a weak incumbent, because the state's leaning is too partisan. Voters just cared more about their party gaining/keeping seats rather than the individual candidates. The rare exceptions are horrible candidates like Roy Moore or Tester's reelection in a state, that is relatively Dem-friendly downballot. Manchin is another exception, but he is a figure of the past and WV-03 proved Dems just aren't competitive in WV anymore unless they are complete DINOs. If Manchin voted against Kavanaugh, he would have most likely lost to a weak GOP opponent.

IN/MO/ND and TN-Sen 2018 are other examples for this trend to nationalize senate elections. McCaskill's and Donnelly's elections in 2012 were also more of a fluke, because their challengers were literal jokes. Same with Bill Nelson, who won against weak challengers in previous races and ran a lame campaign this time against a strong opponent. That's why I think both Doug Jones and Cory Gardner are de-facto DOA for 2020, save some horrible opponents or other major factors. And that's why Dean Heller could not win in a Trump midterm.

[NevadanAtHeart]

He was far from DoA. No matter what you think his overall plan should've been though, Ralston is certainly right in that he shouldn't have straddled the middle in the wishy washy way that he did. That press conference where he stood next to our governor -- the most popular Nevadan politician in recent memory -- and said he'd align with him and protect Obamacare? That was the nail in the coffin in my opinion, especially when he didn't end up doing that.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Certainly not what Donald said today

"President Donald Trump said Wednesday that former Sen. Dean Heller lost his re-election bid last fall because the Nevada Republican had been “extraordinarily hostile” to him during the 2016 election and had alienated the conservative base."

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trump-dean-heller-lost-re-election-because-he-didnt-excite-voter-base-1591313/

Donald, you lost Nevada too, they just don't like you or your kind there. Heller certainly did not lose because he chose to lick your toes 90% of the time instead of 100%, in a state you lost and have approval ratings in the sh!tter there.

[Cape Verde]

I am playing with the words, but winning is a far broader term than 'being elected as Nevada's senator.' Heller could've gone Jim Gilmore route and declare himself as a winner if he gets at least one vote.

[Brittain33]

I haven't seen anyone note that #nevertrumping didn't help Heck win his 2016 race, so Heller had no reason to go that route.

[KaiserDave]

I haven't seen anyone note that #nevertrumping didn't help Heck win his 2016 race, so Heller had no reason to go that route.

But embracing Trump wouldn't have done it either. Trump lost Nevada. There isn't a strong enough base.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Time machine and become a Democrat
OR
Rig it for Clinton