Vulnerable GOP senator in deep trouble for voting to gut health care

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) made a big choice. Even though Trump lost his state and polls poorly there, he decided to latch onto Trump and rubber-stamp his agenda. And he is now paying the price for it.

According to a new poll from Protect Our Care, 52% of Nevadans disapprove of Heller, while only 28% approve. He also trails his likely Democratic challenger, Rep. Jacky Rosen, 44 to 39.

One the main reasons for this appears to be health care, an issue that 6 in 10 Nevadans report is important to them.

Heller has veered hard right over the previous year. He has boasted about how he “helped write” the GOP tax scam for corporations and billionaires. He is also intensely proud of his role in helping Trump whiten the federal courts. And he has stayed silent on gun control even though his constituents voted for it.

And if health care does indeed become the decisive factor, Heller is in trouble. After promising his constituents he would protect access to care, he supported multiple bills that would have stripped insurance from millions of people. His voters were against those bills at the time, causing Heller’s approval to plummet, and it has not recovered since.

Heller’s lockstep loyalty to Trump may be partly out of fear of losing to hard-right primary challenger Danny Tarkanian. Other Republican senators faced with a similar situation, like Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), decided to just retire. Heller, however, desperately wants another term — whatever the cost may be.

But after his pathetic betrayal on health care last year, the polls are a clear warning that constituents do not believe he deserves one.