The Club For Growth has made its choice in the Nevada Senate race, picking tea party-backed former state Rep. Sharron Angle in the three-way Republican primary to go up against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
This brings the Club’s considerable heft into a race that has seen GOP establishment favorite Sue Lowden fumble from her suggestion that people use the barter system to lower their health care costs — infamously discussing how her grandparents’ generation would bring a chicken to the doctor as payment. Former UNLV basketball player Danny Tarkanian is also competing with Angle for hardline conservative votes, and the Club’s choice could potentially have a big impact. They’ve already had a strong cycle for Republican nominations, advancing Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio in Florida — and they have taken credit for Utah Sen. Bob Bennett losing renomination at his state GOP convention.
A recent Mason-Dixon poll showed Angle surging into second place, trailing Lowden by 30%-25%, with Tarkanian at 22%.