Sandoval said to be on Jeb Bush’s VP short list

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hasn’t officially announced he’s running for the White House, yet he’s already got his eye on Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval as his potential vice presidential running mate, according to two GOP insiders.

A possible Bush-Sandoval ticket came up behind the scenes at a January Republican National Committee meeting in San Diego, according to one source who attended the meeting. Bush’s staff asked Nevada officials about Sandoval, the state’s first Hispanic governor who was re-elected in a landslide in 2014 with 70 percent of the vote.

The other insider said separately that a member of the governor’s staff mentioned recently that Bush is vetting Sandoval as a potential running mate — if he gets into the White House contest, as widely expected.

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were intended to be private.

“Jeb Bush’s people asked me, ‘What do you think about Gov. Sandoval?’ ” one source said. “That’s what first got my antenna up. Personally, I think he would be great. That would be a great ticket.”

Bush and Sandoval know one another well, and the Nevada governor has often praised the education reforms the former Florida governor implemented while in office from 1999 to 2007. Both back Common Core, or statewide education standards that have become controversial among conservatives.

Tim Miller, a spokesman for Jeb Bush, denied there is any formal vetting of Sandoval happening at this point.

“Gov. Sandoval is a great leader in our party, but this is just silly pre-pre-preseason gossip that is completely false,” Miller said. “There is no vetting of this kind going on.”

Sandoval’s political advisers didn’t return phone and email requests for comment on his vice presidential prospects.

Sandoval also is being pressed by Republicans to run for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s Senate seat, calls that are expected to increase following Reid’s announcement that he will not run for re-election. Sandoval would be the favorite GOP contender if he does run, according to early polls looking at a potential Senate race.

The governor, who is often asked about his political ambitions, has repeatedly said he’s focused on being governor, a job he said he loves, and isn’t contemplating any future office, whether vice presidential or in the U.S. Senate.

“I am singularly focused on my job,” Sandoval said during a Review-Journal editorial board meeting before the February start of the Nevada Legislature. Asked what are the odds he will complete his second four-year term, Sandoval said, “I think they’re really good.”

Bush is clearly interested in competing in the battleground state of Nevada, one of four early-voting states after Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He has visited the Silver State several times in recent months.

Bush will return to Las Vegas on May 13 to headline the Clark County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner.

The former governor most recently visited Las Vegas on March 2.

Robert Uithoven, an independent GOP operative, said it makes sense for Bush to consider Sandoval for his ticket. Bush could expect to win the key state of Florida and might be looking for a Hispanic running mate to help him capture more of the Latino vote in the Southwest and Mountain West. It doesn’t hurt that Bush’s wife is Hispanic, either.