Gov. Brian Sandoval intends to make no endorsement in the race to succeed him.
Sandoval’s decision was reported on Twitter Thursday by KLAS-TV PoliticsNOW co-host Steve Sebelius.
BREAKING: @GovSandoval said today he does not plan to make an endorsement in the race to succeed him as governor, ending speculation about whether he'd embrace Republican nominee @AdamLaxalt.
— Steve Sebelius (@SteveSebelius) August 16, 2018
Sandoval and Republican nominee Attorney General Adam Laxalt have had an infamously and sometimes publicly strained relationship. Laxalt last year proposed repealing the Commerce Tax that Sandoval shepherded into law in 2015, prompting Sandoval to respond that doing so would “irreversibly and permanently harm” education and the state.
Laxalt has signed Nevada on to a series of legal briefs in support of conservative issues without consulting Sandoval. During a Board of Pardons Commission meeting last year, Sandoval, who chairs the commission, would not allow Laxalt to abstain from voting on the pardon of Fred Steese; Laxalt subsequently voted against pardoning the innocent man, and has been taking heat about it ever since.
Earlier this week, Laxalt signaled to the Reno Gazette-Journal that a Sandoval endorsement might not be forthcoming.
“Obviously Gov. Sandoval’s become less politically active in the last few years, but we’ve worked well together over the last few years, and got a lot of things done as partners,” Laxalt told the RGJ. “I hope to earn his vote just like with everyone else.”
Meantime, Sen. Dean Heller takes a much more generous view of Laxalt’s relatively new appearance on the Nevada political landscape than the governor. The Washington Examiner reported Thursday that Heller “is banking on two key outside factors to help him turn out his base: Trump’s support and the presence of Adam Laxalt … on the ballot as the GOP gubernatorial nominee.”
“One Nevada-based GOP strategist likened Laxalt’s standing with conservatives to that of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,” the Examiner reported.
Heller was reportedly considering running for governor himself in 2018, but ultimately decided to seek reelection instead.
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