NV-Sen: Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) is in

This is great news for Democrats:

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) has decided to run for retiring Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) seat.

She made the announcement in a statement Thursday morning.

"Nevadans know me and they know I will never stop working on behalf of our state, standing up for veterans, creating opportunities for our children, fighting to end Yucca Mountain and helping our economy recover by putting people back to work.  There is so much at stake in this election for Nevada. And that is why I have decided to run for the U.S. Senate and work to build a stronger future for our state," she said.

Berkley is almost certainly our strongest contender for the open Senate seat, and her entry likely sets up a showdown with Republican Rep. Dean Heller - whom she actually criticized by name in her announcement statement, which is unusual, and suggests she is very much ready for this fight. Other top Dems have all said they'd defer to Berkley, though one candidate is already in the race, wealthy lawyer Byron Georgiou (who just announced he raised a million dollars in the first quarter, half of it is own money). It's unclear whether Georgiou will continue his bid, and it's also possible that teabaggers will try to rally around someone other than Heller, though for now he seems to have a direct path to the nomination.

In any event, assuming we wind up with a Berkley vs. Heller matchup, this is going to be a titanic battle?and I like our odds. Nevada went strongly for Barack Obama in 2008, and I expect he'll contest the state just as vigorously again. That ought to give Berkley a natural advantage, but it's going to be a close-fought race the whole way, and definitely one to watch.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/E1_tUTYWp0A/-NV-Sen:-Rep-Shelley-Berkley-(D)-is-in

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