Ideology & Voting

DW-NOMINATE Scores

Harry Reid's DW-Nominate scores have always been liberal.  The Senate Roll Estimates 1st-113th Senates Excel Sheet on VoteView a site created to host information from DW-Nominate estimates shows this.  He was first in Congress for the 100th Congress, and his score at that time was -0.225.  He has since then shifted to become more liberal each Congress.  His score from the 113th Congress was -0.428 which shows just how much more liberal he has become.  This can be seen as evidence of the increasing polarization in Congress.  This may also show that new members are not the only cause of polarization.  Instead, older members also contribute to the increasing polarization.

Party Vote

Harry Reid tends to vote with his party.  His party unity vote score for the 113th Congress was 94.545 according to the Party Unity Scores from VoteView.  This would be an interesting score for someone from Nevada considering it is sometimes considered a swing state.  The Republican, Senator Heller from Nevada has a lower score for instance.  However, Reid's higher score can probably be attributed at least partly to being the Majority Leader.  With his position Reid has to lead the party and will mostly be voting with his party.  The reason his score isn't even higher could be due to the fact that he will vote against the party at times only to bring the bill up again at a later time if it fails.  

Congressional Quarterly, an entity that reports on the United States Congress, shows that since 2009 he has had a score in the mid 90s.  This site also shows that Harry Reid's Presidential Support score has been higher than 90 since President Obama came into office.  During Obama's first year, Reid actually had a score of 99.  This was obviously due to being of the same party and trying to work together to get legislation passed with a Democratic majority.

Interest Group Scores

Interest group scores can be found at Project Vote Smart which is a site that tracks endorsements and ratings.  Reid's scores can be attributed to his liberal stance as a Democrat.  Most of his positions are rather favorable with these sorts of interest groups.  According to this site these are some of Reid's recent scores: 

• 90% rating with the ADA in 2013
• 100% with the ACLU in 2014
• 96% rating with the NAACP in 2014
• 80% lifetime score with the League of Conservation Voters in 2014
• 100% rating with NARAL Pro-Choice America along with many other Democrats in 2014  
• 95% rating with the Service Employees International Union in 2012

Crossing Party Lines

Reid was not very bipartisan during the 113th Congress.  As Majority Leader he sought to further his party's legislation leading him to be less bipartisan than he could have been.  On GovTrack, a source that keeps good records on members of congress, he was rated the 1st lowest in writing bipartisan bills of all democratic senators.  However, he was also in the highest 25% of democratic senators to join bipartisan bills.  The contradiction here most likely comes about from Reid's leadership position where he sponsored a lot of bills that were for his party primarily which did not get bipartisan support.  As a more experienced senator in his position he was also more likely to join certain bipartisan bills that were not controversial or very meaningful.  Some of the legislation he cosponsored were S.2714 World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act and S.Res. 471 (113th): A Resolution Honoring Former President George H.W. Bush on the Occasion of His 90th Birthday and Barbara Bush on the Occasion of Her 89th Birthday and Extending the Best Wishes of the Senate to former President Bush and Mrs. Bush.  This was the sort of bipartisanship that can skew these scores.

"Journalism Doesn't Exist"

Committee Work

Harry Reid Decides to Step Down

After originally announcing that he would be running for reelection in 2016, Reid has now decided to retire.  This news came on March 27 along with a farewell video Reid put together explaining his reasoning behind his decision.

Reid stated that his injury did not have any affect on his decision.  Rather, he decided to retire before his accident in January according to Politico.  However, he did state that the injury provided more time for him to deliberate about his decision before announcing it.  This led to him telling his staff that he was running again.

In the video, Reid says that his injury has allowed him to see that he is more concerned with the country, the Senate, and the state of Nevada than that of himself, and so he has decided to step down at the end of his term.

According to Politico, the nonpartisan, Washington-based political journalism organization, as of April 7, Reid was reported to still be unable to see out of his right eye due to the exercising injuries that he suffered in January.  He may not admit that his injury affected his decision to step down, but the stress from the injury definitely could have contributed.

Committee Work

Harry Reid is only in one committee in the 114th Congress.  He is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence.  Reid is actually an ex officio member of this committee which means he is only a part of it by virtue of his position as Minority Leader.  According to the Committee's website, he is one of four other senators who hold the same position in this committee.  The others being John McCain, Mitch McConnell, and Jack Reed.  He has been an ex officio member of this committee since the 109th Congress.

Reid is the only senator that is a member of only one committee at this time.  I am not entirely sure why, but it is probably due in part to his injury and his leadership position within the senate.

Overview of the Select Committee on Intelligence

The Overview of the Select Committee on Intelligence states that it was created in 1976 with three goals according to the Committee's website:

1. To oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government.
2. To submit to the Senate appropriate proposals for legislation and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities and programs.
3. To provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

There are always 15 members of the committee excluding the ex officio members.  8 members are from the majority party and 7 from the minority.  This does not change according to the ratio of majority members to minority members in the senate.  The committee remains the same, so that it can remain nonpartisan as such is the nature of intelligence.  

The committee always includes two members, one from each party, from Appropriations, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary Committees.  

Committee work includes hearings that are held twice a week normally.  These hearings cover topics like intelligence collection programs, intelligence analysis on specific regions or issues, agency activities, threats to national security and Presidential nominations to intelligence positions.  

The Select Committee on Intelligence does not deal with as much legislation as most other committees do.  They do create an annual bill that authorizes funding for intelligence activities and limits intelligence conduct as well.  Sometimes the committee does work  on other laws when they deal with surveillance or other intelligence topics.

So far this year, the Select Committee on Intelligence has voted on the Cybersecurity Bill and upon approval has introduced it as well.  It passed through committee 14-1.  Reid championed a cybersecurity bill back in 2011 and 2012, so I am sure he fought for this one as well.  This committee would have been one of the primary bodies working on the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program which was the torture report released last year.

Conclusion

Being a member of this committee does not seem to help Senator Reid very much in terms of reelection.  If he was to run it would be a very tough race because this committee allows him to help the nation and serve as a Democratic leader, but it does not help Nevadans specifically at all.  Other committees would definitely be more useful in terms of achieving reelection.  However, being in only one committee does allow Reid to have more time to do party work and introduce legislation in his state's interest outside of a committee as Govtrack shows in his sponsored bills history as he needs to considering he cannot work for his state within another committee.  This site follows legislators' funds and their voting records as well.  In regards to committees, Harry Reid is kind an exception.  He is the minority leader which separates him from other senators.  His older age and injury also seem to have influenced his committee participation as well which is different from most senators.

Electoral Circumstances

Current Prediction

• Harry Reid looks to be behind in a Gravis Marketing, a political marketing agency that has taken some flack in the past for some of its results, but is still used on sites like RealClearPolitics, poll to Republicans Adam Laxalt and Brian Krolicki.

• This does not even include Nevada's Republican Governor Brian Sandoval who many thought would have the best shot at taking the seat due to polling reported by Politico last year.
• According to the political journalism organization, Politico, Governor Sandoval, a former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission like Reid, doesn't appear to be running though.
• Reid could also face Nevada state senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson who was not even polled, so there are a lot of things up in the air right now.
• If Sandoval decides not to run the Republican Primary will most likely be rather contested whereas if Reid does decide to run as he has stated before the Democratic Primary should be a lock.
• Another aspect to consider is the fact that in this past election Republicans won every state seat showing a trend towards Republicans.  It is important to note here that in 2016 there will be a larger voter turnout due to it being a presidential election.  This will most likely help bring out more Democrats that in 2014.
• In 2012, Obama won Nevada, but with a lower percentage than before.  Politico shows that Obama was able to win despite carrying only two counties in Nevada.

2010 Election Results

• Senate100% reporting

  	Candidate	Party	Votes	Pct.
  	Harry Reid	Dem.	362,785	50.3%	Incumbent
  	Sharron Angle	Rep.	321,361	44.5%
  	None of these candidates	—	16,197	2.2%
  	Scott Ashjian	Tea	5,811	0.8%
  	Michael Haines	Ind.	4,261	0.6%
  	Tim Fasano	I.A.P.	3,185	0.4%
  	Jesse Holland	Ind.	3,175	0.4%
  	Jeffrey Reeves	Ind.	2,510	0.3%
  	Wil Stand	Ind.	2,119	0.3%

• Official Election Results from the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
• RealClearPolitics shows that Reid trailed in the polls almost all of October to Sharon Angle and his victory was seen as a surprise.
• Politico reported that there were several reasons why Reid was able to win the 2010 election including: 
• Trusting his own polls.
• Running against specific candidates and using their mistakes against them.
• Reid and the Democrats ran ads and spoke out against Republican candidates during the primary like Sue Lowden causing problems like "Chickengate" which she never recovered from.

• This led to the more radical Tea Party candidate, Sharron Angle, being chosen.  He called Sharron Angle a "female Rand Paul" because of her more extreme stances.
• He sought votes from the opposite party.
• Angle carried a lower percentage of Republicans than Reid did Democrats.
• Reid had for years been supportive of the Hispanic vote in Nevada which finally turned out for him.
• Friends in high places assisted him.
• Obama campaigned for him early and helped fundraise.
• Senators like Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Max Baucus (Montana) sent staffers to help.
• Las Vegas Casinos and unions helped him get votes and banks even showed their support.
• Stayed close to the White House when others tried to distance themselves.
• Focused on himself and not other campaigns he could have helped.

• Harry Reid's son, Rory Reid ran for governor against Brian Sandoval often using Rory for Governor as a slogan.
• Rory distanced himself from his father because he thought he was unpopular, and Harry was fine with that, so he could focus on his own campaign.

• Governor100% reporting

  	Candidate	Party	Votes	Pct.
  	Brian Sandoval	Rep.	382,350	53.4%
  	Rory Reid	Dem.	298,171	41.6%
  	None of these candidates	—	12,231	1.7%
  	Eugene Disimone	Ind.	6,403	0.9%
  	Floyd Fitzgibbons	I.A.P.	5,049	0.7%
  	Arthur Lampitt	Lib.	4,672	0.7%
  	David Curtis	Green	4,437	0.6%
  	Aaron Honig	Ind.	3,216	0.4%

Campaign Finance

• Harry Reid spent less on his 2010 campaign than his Republican counterpart, Sharron Angle.  According to Open Secrets, a site that tracks political fundraising, Reid raised $24,815,104 while Angle raised $28,162,049.
• According to Open Secrets, from 2009-2014, Reid has raised $23,812,691.  The majority of that was raised for his 2010 campaign.
• The FEC shows that from 2013-2014 he has raised $2,596,296 in total contributions.
• Both the FEC and Open Secrets show that Reid had $1,457,274 on hand at the end of 2014.  Since then he has held two fundraisers according to Find the Best, which tracks political candidates, and began working towards 2016 a little bit.
• According to Open Secrets, most of Harry Reid's funds have come from lawyers and law firms like Weitz & Luxenberg, Simmons Law Firm, and Morgan & Morgan.  Most of the local money he takes in is from casinos and retired individuals.

Major Issues

• From Harry Reid's personal website and his Twitter account it looks like he focuses a lot on preserving Nevada's landmarks and its people.  
• He has done a lot already to protect sites like Great Basin National Park, Red Rock Canyon, and Sloan Canyon.
• Reid has currently proposed legislation for Gold Butte and Garden Valley.
• He will most likely broadcast what he has done for the preservation of Nevada so far and what he is continuing to do with Yucca Mountain and green energy.
• Reid is heavily tied to national politics because of his leadership position.  This will probably influence the issues that are focused on during the campaign.
• For instance, I think that there will be a lot of debate on immigration due to the increasing Hispanic population in Nevada and on healthcare because it was a big issue in 2010 that hasn't really been resolved completely.

Harry Reid: Strategy

So far, Harry Reid has sponsored 3 bills and 4 resolutions.  He is also cosponsoring 20 bills and resolutions.  He has introduced S.271, S.191, and S.196.  These three bills all relate to his state.  The first one supports retired veterans, and the other two are about land in Nevada.  These are examples of how Reid uses his position to support his constituents.  The bill for the compensation of retired veterans is something that he has been working on for years because of support from his state also.

Introduction to Harry Reid

Harry Reid - Democratic Senator from Nevada

Basic Information

• Born: December 2, 1939
• Age: 75
• Birthplace: Searchlight, NV
• Education: Southern Utah University, Utah State University, John M. Huntsman School of Business, and George Washington University Law School
• Political Science and History major with an Economics minor and a Juris Doctor
• Married to Landra Gould with five kids
• Has 19 grandchildren
• Both he and his wife converted to Mormonism while in college

Political Information

• Currently Senate Minority Leader
• Ex Officio member of the Select Committe on Intelligence
• Has served as Senate Minority Whip, Senate Majority Whip and Senate Majority Leader
• Served in Senate since 1987
• Served in House from 1983-1986
• Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 1971-1975

Current Events

• Reid recently injured a few ribs and a number of bones near his eye while exercising at home.
• After recovering from this injury, he has announced that despite his continuing recovery he will still be running for reelection.                                 
• Sites for more information: 
• http://www.reid.senate.gov/ 
• http://www.harryreid.com/
• http://democrats.senate.gov/

Nevada

The Silver State

• Capital: Carson City
• Major cities: Las Vegas, Henderson, Reno
• Governor: Brian Sandoval
• Population: 2.839 million per the 2010 Census
• Racial Demographic
• White - 66.2%
• Black or African American - 8.1%
• Asian - 7.2%
• Native - 1.2%
• Other - 12%
• Religious Makeup - One of the lowest church attendances in the US
• Roman Catholic - 27%
• Protestant - 26%
• Latter-Day Saint - 11%
• Muslim - 2%
• Jewish - 1%
• Hindu - 1%
• Buddhist - 0.5%
• Unaffiliated - 20%
• Economy heavily based on tourism (Las Vegas entertainment), Mining, and Cattle Ranching