‘Independent’ Heller files for re-election

CARSON CITY -- Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is running for re-election because he best represents the "independent thinking" of his district's citizens, he said Tuesday.

Heller, 47, on Monday filed his candidacy for a second term representing Nevada's 2nd Congressional District.

Since becoming a member of Congress in January 2007, Heller said, he has conducted weekly town hall meetings in which thousands of his constituents have participated. He said he had taken what he learned from them and responded with his votes and bills in Congress.

As an example, he noted that earlier Tuesday he introduced a bill to require English-only ballots for federal elections.

That was the issue his constituents raised the most concern about when he ran for the seat in 2006, according to Heller.

At the time, Heller was ending a 12-year tenure as Nevada's secretary of state. He said people complained that ballots were printed in Spanish. He could not do anything about it then because it was a federal law, but he intends to try now.

"I want all immigrants to be legal immigrants, and I want them all to succeed," Heller said. "The best way they can succeed is by learning the English language."

Heller is ranked 420th most powerful of the 435 members of Congress by Knowlegis, a nonpartisan analysis firm. Nonetheless, he was chosen to deliver the House Republican Conference's national weekly radio address on Saturday.

In that address, he criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for not delivering on a promise she made two years ago. Pelosi said she would propose a plan for reducing gas prices.

On April 23, Heller introduced a resolution that called for Pelosi to introduce her "commonsense but apparently secret plan."

Heller said it wasn't a partisan move. "I would have done the same thing if Republicans had promised a plan and failed to deliver," he said.

But his probable Democratic opponent, Jill Derby, on Tuesday called Heller a "Bush clone" who votes with the Republican president more than 90 percent of the time.

Derby said she intends to file for the seat in the next few days. Two years ago, Derby, who resigned in February as state Democratic Party chairwoman, lost the same race to Heller by 5 percentage points. It was considered a close race, since there were about 48,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in the district at the time.

The Republican advantage has since been reduced to about 31,000 voters. But Heller said he is confident he will win because his votes and political stances in Congress represent the thinking of district residents.

"Jill is going to say what she has to say," he added. "I don't take her lightly. But I am independent like the district voters."

Congressional District 2 covers 16 Nevada counties in their entirety and portions of the 17th, Clark County.

Heller filed for re-election on Monday, but was not available for comment until Tuesday.

Heller's only opponent so far, Elko mining engineer John Everhart, also filed on Monday. Everhart is a member of the Independent American Party.