Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told the Las Vegas Review Journal over the weekend that the chief sponsor of background checks believes he has a few more votes for the legislation, which failed to pass last month.
“Joe Manchin called me yesterday. He thinks he has a couple more votes,” Reid told the Review Journal, as seen in a video clip provided to the Huffington Post.
Reid cited the pushback that Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has received for voting against the legislation, and speculated that he “may be able to get another Democrat or two.”
“The one senator from — Republican senator from New Hampshire, has been — wham, man has she been hit hard,” the majority leader said. “She’s the only senator in the northeast to vote against background checks. She went from a hugely positive number in New Hampshire — her negatives now outweigh her positives. She’s being hit every place she goes. So we’re going to pick up some more votes. I may be able to get another Democrat or two. That would get us up to 57, and we may only need three additional Republicans. We’ll see.”
A source familiar with the negotiations told TPM that members are continuing discussions about the legislation.