If spring is in the air, it must be primary time

Ah, spring, when a young politician's fancy turns to thoughts of, "Hey, should I run in a primary against a party-backed candidate who's just not conservative/liberal enough?"

Whether out of ego, partisan orthodoxy or just plain desperation, primary challenges are a fact of life. And while parties work hard to avoid them, they're not always successful.

Take Rep. Shelley Berkley. She was originally challenged by Byron Georgiou, a businessman and attorney who had plenty of money to mount a serious challenge. That is, until party elder Sen. Harry Reid stepped in, applying ever-increasing pressure until Georgiou decided to opt out.

But Reid couldn't stop former Regent Nancy Price from getting into the race. Price, who identifies with the Occupy Wall Street movement, says Berkley is part of the problem with a corporate-dominated Congress.

Ditto renewable energy executive Barry Ellsworth, whose website is replete with examples of deregulation that he says led to the financial collapse and the housing crisis.

Nobody gives Price or Ellsworth much of a chance of beating powerhouse Berkley, but dollars and energy spent fending off their campaigns in June is that much less to spend on Berkley's November foe, Republican Sen. Dean Heller.

Sometimes, a primary is the only race a candidate will have. Former Rep. Dina Titus was looking at a rough June face-off with a fellow Democrat, state Sen. Ruben Kihuen, in the 1st Congressional District. But with an advantage of more than 50,000 Democratic voters, whoever wins in June is virtually guaranteed to win in November. (Kihuen ultimately dropped out.)

But in state Senate District 11, where 46 percent of the voters are Democrats and 30 percent are Republicans, attorney Aaron Ford will still have to contend with fellow Democrat and former Assemblyman Harry Mortenson. Ford ran unsuccessfully in 2010 for the Senate against Dr. Joe Hardy. Mortenson was forced from his longtime Assembly seat by term limits in 2010.

Sometimes, the challenges are less serious. In Assembly District 15, incumbent Assemblyman Elliot Anderson will face former Assemblyman Lou Toomin. Now a spokesman for the Las Vegas Township constable's office, Toomin said he waited until the very end of filing to give Anderson "heartburn." Toomin may not know the only burn to which Anderson is susceptible is sunburn, as he walks his district more regularly than its letter carriers. That face-to-face contact is a powerful boost for any would-be officeholder.

But primaries aren't an issue only for Democrats. Republicans have theirs, too.

Although the 4th Congressional District encompasses plenty of rural territory, on paper it doesn't look that hospitable to the GOP (it's 45 percent Democratic, 35 percent Republican). That didn't stop GOP state Sen. Barbara Cegavske from declaring she'd run and take on Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford. (Cegavske is in her last term in the state Senate.)

But Danny Tarkanian, son of the famous UNLV basketball coach and unsuccessful candidate for state Senate, secretary of state and U.S. Senate, jumped into the GOP race, too. Rumors that either Cegavske or Tarkanian would drop out proved false.

And in the new state Senate District 18, Assemblyman Scott Hammond's endorsement by the Republican Senate caucus didn't dissuade fellow Republican Assemblyman Richard McArthur from getting in. McArthur is the more conservative candidate, having voted against extending the allegedly temporary "sunset" taxes at the 2011 Legislature, an extension Hammond supported.

But with the Assembly Republican caucus destined for permanent minority status, who can blame McArthur for wanting to move to the much more closely divided state Senate, where at least he'd have a voice?

And where better to use that voice than in a primary?

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.