One look at Joe Heck’s resume and it’s easy to see why he makes such a formidable candidate for the U.S. Senate.
As a Congressman from Nevada’s 3rd District since 2011, the Republican is a physician and Army Reservist with active duty experience, including a stint in Iraq. These days Heck carries the rank of Brigadier General in the Army Reserves.
Whether he’s wearing a white lab coat or Army fatigues, Heck looks professional in uniform.
So why in the world is the guy allowing some of his big-money political allies to continue to spew an endless shower of slanderous sludge at his opponent for Harry Reid’s well-worn Senate seat, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto?
Reid has been the gaming industry’s most powerful and reliable advocate for more than three decades. His replacement will likely fill an important role in helping to shape the future of the casino and tourism business at a national level.
From a resume standpoint, Heck would appear hard to beat. But recent polls have made the contest too close to call. And I’m guessing those hyperbolic ads haven’t been helping. (Perhaps that’s why we’ve started to see a more positive lineup of commercials from Heck in recent days.)
In August, a Koch-backed PAC produced attack ads claiming that as Attorney General Cortez Masto for failing to do enough to prevent senior abuse by private guardians. It made her appear she was essentially throwing grandpa to the wolves, but even a cursory fact check finds she actually drafted legislation that eventually made its way into law to battle the obviously serious concern.
But that’s nothing compared to the lavish trips she’s accused of taking. (Uh, not exactly true.) Or her supposed obsession with harassing poor Uber. (Another laugher.)
And to say accuse her of being responsible for a rising crime rate seems, well, just a little desperate.
Not only have the third party ads made Cortez Masto look like the victim of an attack too low even for the current political climate, but the mud is splashing back on Heck in a race that’s under a national microscope.
Both candidates are receiving big money from outside Political Action Committees. Groups such as Americans For Prosperity and Freedom Partners Action Fund, both largely underwritten by Charles and David Koch, have dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race in recent weeks — mostly into television attack ads that machine gun their way across the airwaves.
There’s nothing new or illegal in that in the Citizens United era, and Cortez Masto’s allies have dished some spooky imagery about Heck, too.
But thanks to the below-the-bottom efforts of his political friends, Heck is now being hammered with a political ad featuring Washoe County Undersheriff Todd Vinger, Officer Mike Ramirez, and Sgt. Michelle Jotz for wrongly accusing Masto. And there’s retired Metro Capt. Larry Burns, a former SWAT commander, standing up for Masto.
Talk looking professional in uniform.
Add to that the immensely popular former Governor and U.S. Senator Richard Bryan weighing in on the slovenly aspersions, and you have a dramatic rebuke of Heck and his political allies — generated and facilitated by Heck and his political allies.
Heck’s malignant misfires have also focused attention on the fact Masto is sporting plenty of law enforcement endorsements for her consistent support as attorney general.
Say what you will about Cortez Masto. Call her Harry Reid’s pet project. Argue that she underperformed as Attorney General and was too quick to take credit for successes and too slow to spotlight her office’s shortcomings.
Everyone knows politics is a below-the-belt business. At times it makes the bloody UFC look like a junior high square dance. And a seemingly endless flow of cash on both sides of the Heck-Masto race from out-of-state sources only increases the volume. That’s the reality of big-time politics.
But Joe Heck’s wealthy supporters dealing despicable and inaccurate mud from behind the PAC curtain are doing their candidate no favors.
If he’s not careful, Heck may find he’s wearing more than sludge on his uniform come Election Day.
John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at 702 523-1332, or jlnevadasmith@gmail.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.
