Henderson attorney wants to challenge for Dean Heller’s Senate seat

A trial attorney who ran for Congress last year announced he will run for U.S. Senate in Nevada next year.

Democrat Jesse Sbaih, who lives in Henderson, says he wants to take on Nevada U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and President Donald Trump.

“I think Dean Heller is out of touch with Nevadans and out of touch with our needs,” Sbaih told the Review-Journal Friday.

Sbaih is running on a similar platform to his 2016 run for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. He said he is committed to bringing good jobs to Nevada, increasing minimum wage, lowering the cost of college tuition and is in favor of a universal health care for Americans.

Sbaih ran a mostly self-funded campaign in 2016, when he lost to Jacky Rosen after he garnered 13 percent of the primary votes. Rosen went on to defeat Republican Danny Tarkanian in the general election.

But Sbaih said he hopes to use lessons learned from the loss in his first run for elected office.

During the 2016 campaign, Sbaih, a Muslim who immigrated from Jordan with his family at age 11, said former Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid attempted to dissuade the attorney from running for Congress. Sbaih said Reid told him that he could not win because of his religion and ethnicity, but Reid’s aides denied the account.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.