Presidential contender Huckabee glad Reid won’t seek re-election
CARSON CITY — Potential GOP presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Saturday he was pleased with the announcement from U.S. Sen. Harry Reid that the Nevada Democrat will not run for another term.
“To borrow the name of a famous song for the Democrats, happy days are here again,” Huckabee said in a brief question-and-answer session with the press. “I think its’ good because I believe Senator Reid was a major obstacle to good government; a major obstacle to working toward legislation that was doable.
“I’m hoping Nevada will send another Republican to the Senate,” he said.
Huckabee was in the capital to deliver remarks at the Nevada Republican Party’s Central Committee meeting.
He said he won’t be making a formal announcement about a potential run for president until later this spring.
If he does run, Huckabee said he brings more than 10 years of serving as a successful chief executive despite having to get his legislative priorities through an overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature.
While the Republican primary will likely include former governors, Huckabee said his accomplishments stand out because of the challenge of working with the opposing party.
“It was tough sledding, but I learned how to govern,” he said. “And that’s what I think I bring to the table. I learned how to govern and I never got less than 90 percent of my legislative package passed through the Legislature.”
Huckabee said his agenda included education reform and rebuilding the state road system. He balanced the budget, cut taxes 94 times and saw the average Arkansas family income increase by 50 percent during his tenure in office.
Huckabee said his resume includes another unique qualification: he has successfully run repeatedly against the Bill and Hillary Clinton political machine in Arkansas.
“Nobody that I know in the entire country has repeatedly faced the Clinton political money and machinery,” he said. “Nobody had Bill and Hillary come into the state and campaign for their every opponent. I did. So nobody understands what it is like to go up against the Clinton monopoly like this guy right here. Been there done that.”
Huckabee, a Fox News talk show host, ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and recently ended his talk show so he could explore a White House run in 2016.
He is the latest possible GOP presidential hopeful to visit Nevada, one of four early voting states following the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Other likely Republican White House candidates who have come to Las Vegas recently include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.