2012 Voter Guide: U.S. Senate

Ethics has overshadowed the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Shelley Berkley, with the congresswoman under investigation since July for her advocacy on kidney health matters that may have financially helped her husband, a physician.

Yet the House Ethics Committee probe, which won't conclude before the Nov. 6 election, hasn't hobbled Berkley. The Democrat remains competitive in trying to topple the Republican Heller from his appointed post.

As a result, the Heller-Berkley matchup remains one of the closest Senate contests in the country, pitting a seven-term congresswoman from Las Vegas against a former fellow member of the House who represented most of the rest of Nevada in Congress, including 16 of the state's 17 counties plus a portion of Clark County.

The outcome of the race is important for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader who put his political organization, which helped him win re-election in 2010, to work for Berkley. The robust effort in Nevada is part of his plan to maintain control of the U.S. Senate, where Democrats now have a 53-47 edge over Republicans.

Heller has said he is essentially running against Reid, but he also is running against President Barack Obama and the economic policies that Berkley has backed as a reliable Democratic vote.

Berkley's fate is closely tied to how well Obama does in Nevada against GOP challenger Mitt Romney. Democrats have a voter registration edge over Republicans of more than 90,000. The better Obama does at the ballot box, the more Democrats will go to the polls, lifting Berkley and the rest of the ticket.

Conversely, if Romney stays competitive in the battleground state where he is running neck and neck in polls, Republican enthusiasm for the GOP ticket could overcome any Democratic registration edge.

Nonpartisan voters, now more than 200,000 registered in Nevada, could swing the close election as well.

The Latino vote is also key in Nevada, with making up 26 percent of the state population. Recent polls have shown Berkley leading Heller among Hispanics by a 2-to-1 margin.

No matter what, the economy remains Nevada voters' top issue and is at the heart of the Senate race. Nevada's unemployment rate is 12.1 percent, the highest in the nation, and homeowners are swamped by debt.

In their first debate in September, Heller said the economy was stalled thanks to Berkley-backed policies that have businesses and Americans fearing another financial collapse. Those policies include uncertainty over future taxes and over how much Obama's new mandatory health insurance law will cost, according to Heller.

"Everyone's driving 15, 20 miles an hour because they're afraid of the next crash," Heller said, comparing the stifled economic situation to a blinding snowstorm that slows traffic to a crawl. "They could be going 65, 70 miles an hour, but they've come to a screeching halt because of the economic policies of my opponent."

Heller makes the case for low taxes, less government regulation and more focus on free enterprise and small businesses that create most American jobs.

Berkley has cast herself as a fighter for the middle class. She agrees with the president's plan to let Bush-era tax cuts expire for households making $250,000 or more, something Heller opposes. Like other Republicans, he wants to extend the tax cuts for everybody, arguing nobody can afford higher taxes.

"Who's going to fight for middle-income families?" Berkley said in debate with Heller. "Who's going to stick up for the people of the state of Nevada? ... My opponent's playing for the other side. He's taking care of the big guys. The big guys don't need our help."

Throughout her campaign, Berkley has attacked Heller-backed GOP policies, particularly efforts to change Medicare for future retirees older than 55.

Heller voted twice for Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to shift Medicare to a voucher-like private insurance system, which Berkley said could "kill" the government retirement system. After the Wisconsin congressman became Romney's vice presidential running mate, Berkley turned up the criticism.

In response, Heller accused Berkley of robbing Medicare of more than $700 billion by voting for Obama's health care plan, which reduced spending by that much over 10 years to pay for the president's program. Ryan's plan also calls for similar savings to reduce the growing costs of Medicare as more Americans retire each year.

On almost every major issue, Heller and Berkley are at opposite political poles.

Berkley backed Obama's health care law and voted for the $787 billion stimulus plan in 2009 that critics say didn't revive the economy as promised, although it saved thousands of teachers and local government jobs. She also voted for government bailouts of the banking and auto industries, which Heller opposed.

Heller has, in turn, voted for GOP budget plans that would have drastically cut federal spending to begin cutting the record $16 trillion deficit, which he said is endangering future generations. Berkley has slammed the plans for slashing education and social programs, from Pell grants to school lunch programs.

The Senate race offers Nevada voters two other choices on the Nov. 6 ballot, including "none of these candidates."

David Lory VanderBeek is running as the Independent American Party candidate. VanderBeek, who ran in 2010 for state Assembly, said he believes the government and politicians are corrupt and should be replaced.

"This is why Congress has a 9 percent approval rating," VanderBeek said in a statement.

He would like to reduce the size and power of government, eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration.

Heller and Berkley have both been in Nevada politics for decades.

Berkley served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was a university regent in the 1990s before winning her House seat in 1998. She represents the 1st Congressional District.

Heller served in the Nevada Assembly from 1990 to 1994. He served three terms as Nevada secretary of state, from 1995 to 2006. He was elected to the 2nd Congressional District in 2006.

In May 2011, Heller was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Brian Sandoval, taking the place of U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who resigned amid a lobbying scandal after an affair with the wife of a top aide.

After running early biographical TV ads, Heller and Berkley hit one another hard in negative ads. Outside political groups also have jumped in with millions of dollars worth of TV attacks.

In several ads, Berkley attacked Heller for his Medicare reform votes. Heller hit back by accusing Berkley of cutting up to $1 trillion from Medicare.

The string of negative ads began in the summer after the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to look into Berkley's advocacy on kidney health issues. She lobbied federal authorities in 2008 to keep open a kidney transplant center at University Medical Center where her husband had a contract. Heller and then-U.S. Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., joined Berkley in the successful effort to keep open the only such center in Nevada.

Separately, Berkley also pressed to keep Medicare reimbursement rates high for kidney dialysis treatment, including by sending a letter to U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., head of the Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees Medicare. Berkley's husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner, runs dialysis centers throughout Southern Nevada.

She never disclosed her husband's financial relationship to the kidney transplant and dialysis centers, something she said she believed was widely known.

The issue came to light in September 2011 in a New York Times story. The Nevada Republican Party filed the complaint that led to the rare House ethics investigation.

Berkley has questioned Heller's ethics as well. In TV ads, her campaign suggested he allowed a Diamond stock swindler to cheat stock holders of $64 million while he was secretary of state. The campaign also brought up his friendly relationship with a former radio talk show host who pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Heller said he had nothing to do with the ethical or legal problems of those involved in the scandals Berkley raised. He shot back that she is "the most unethical, corrupt person I've ever met."

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.