Democrat Sen. Sheila Leslie’s decision to move into Republican Sen. Greg Brower’s Reno district and challenge him in November, means, I’m reliably told, that Democrat Assemblywoman Debbie Smith – rejected by her colleagues for the leadership mantle in the lower house – will take her sizable warchest and run for Leslie’s old seat.
And that’s good news for Assembly Republicans.
You see, the GOP has already recruited a very credible candidate in David Espinosa to run against VERY vulnerable Democrat Assemblyman and union stooge Skip Daly. I’m also told they’ve found “a powerful female candidate” to run against Democrat Assemblywoman Theresa Benitez-Thompson in District 27.
Both Daly and Benitez-Thompson would have been beneficiaries of significant campaign largesse from Smith had she run for re-election to the Assembly. But now that she’s taking her cash and using it for her own Senate race, the pair of vulnerable Democrats will be left high and dry.
Assembly Republicans need a net pick-up of six seats to tie Assembly Democrats. If they snatch these two Washoe County seats, they’d need to pick up four of the seven competitive seats in Clark County.
Doable. Especially after the upcoming next round of voter purges.
