Derby picks up Blue Dog Coalition support

LAS VEGAS -- Former university regent Jill Derby picked up the support of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition today in her second attempt at the 2nd congressional district seat now held by Republican U.S. Rep. Dean Heller. Derby announced the endorsement in a conference call this morning with Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), co-chairman of the coalition.

"We're a group of fiscally conservative Democrats that are tired of the partisan bickering that goes on up in Washington and we try to bridge the partisan divide in congress," said Ross. "We are endorsing Jill Derby because we believe she will join us in putting an end to the partisan bickering in Washington and pushing through commonsense fiscal policies."

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Blue Dog Coalition," said Derby. "The Blue Dogs work for straight talk and fiscally conservative values and we need more of both in Congress. I look forward to working with them to bring the real change we need to Washington."

The Blue Dogs have already seen success this cycle with the special elections of Don Cazayoux in Louisiana and Travis Childers in Mississippi, both in heavily Republican districts.

"In both of those instances," said Ross, "the Democrats were Blue Dog-endorsed candidates and we believe this is just the beginning of a trend where we see a lot more Republicans that are out of touch with their constituents being replaced with Blue Dog Democrats."

"It's clear that Dean Heller is out of touch with his constituents. He was perceived as a centrist when he won the election in 2006, but has turned out to be an arch-conservative whose voting record does not reflect the needs of the people he represents."

Heller's campaign did not immediately return requests for comment.

Derby, who lost to Heller in 2006, was endorsed by the Blue Dogs that year as well, but predicted a better outcome this cycle.

"The landscape has shifted in Nevada because of our early caucus opportunity," said Derby. "The registration gap that had Republican advantage [in Congressional District 2] has decreased by 35 percent and we expect it to decrease by another 10 percent."

"I'm also running against somebody now with a very conservative record. That wasn't the case before. There were expectations that my opponent, Dean Heller, would be a more moderate congressman; it hasn't been the case. He's voted over 90 percent of the time with the Bush administration, and it's a record that's not popular. People want real change and I'm the candidate of that real change, not Dean Heller."

With the endorsement, Derby can expect both financial support from the coalition as well as members campaigning for her in the district. In 2006, the Blue Dog PAC contributed $5,000 to her campaign.

Other Democrats who have received the Blue Dog endorsement this election cycle are Elwyn Tinklenberg in Minnesota's 6th district and Christine Jennings in Florida's 13th district.