Nevada gov withdraws from high court vacancy

  • By MICHELLE RINDELS and MARY CLARE JALONICK
  • Friday, February 26, 2016 1:04am
  • NewsNation-World

LAS VEGAS — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Thursday he is not interested in being considered for the Supreme Court vacancy — a decision that foils one route President Barack Obama might have had to breach Senate Republicans’ planned blockade of any election-year confirmation.

Sandoval, a Republican and the state’s first Hispanic governor, issued a statement the day after news broke that the White House was considering him as a potential replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Earlier today, I notified the White House that I do not wish to be considered at this time for possible nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States,” wrote Sandoval, an abortion rights supporter and former federal judge. “The notion of being considered for a seat on the highest court in the land is beyond humbling, and I am incredibly grateful to have been mentioned.”

He offered no reason for his decision but said he also expressed his position to senators Harry Reid, Dean Heller and Mitch McConnell.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment, saying he would not offer detailed updates on the president’s short list.

The Senate’s vetting process for any nominee is expected to be viciously political, if hearings take place at all. Regardless of which nominee Obama settles on, “this nomination will be determined by whoever wins the presidency in the fall,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Recommending a popular, moderate Republican would test the unified GOP caucus’s insistence that voters in November and the next president should make the lifetime appointment.

Democrats have tried to keep a daily focus on the issue. On Thursday, about two dozen Democratic senators stood outside the Supreme Court and called on Republicans to consider an Obama nominee.

“We have obstruction that is on steroids,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Earnest said Obama is still reviewing material on potential candidates and consulting with lawmakers. The White House has contacted the office of every Senate Judiciary Committee member, he said.

Earnest said the president plans to host a meeting Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the judiciary panel.

Criticism of Sandoval emerged from both sides of the aisle in the 24 hours after his name was mentioned. Liberal groups took issue with his positions on abortion, which he described during his 2010 race as pro-choice but against late-term abortion and federal funding on abortion.

“Sandoval’s checkered history on reproductive freedom should raise some serious flags — it certainly has for us,” NARAL Pro-Choice America said in a statement.

Sandoval’s critics at home have more often come from the right than the left. In November 2012, he became the first Republican governor to expand Medicaid as part of Obama’s health care law, drawing criticism from conservative members of his party.

Sandoval has raised taxes and declined to join state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a Republican, in a federal lawsuit challenging U.S. regulations that protect the sage grouse. He has argued that negotiations with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and others in the Obama administration offer a better chance of easing land-use restrictions for Nevada ranchers, miners and others than a court battle.

He is limited to two terms as governor and is set to leave office in early 2019. He announced last year that he will not run for Reid’s seat in November. Reid is retiring, and Sandoval would have been a strong favorite.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., last week mused that the next justice could be a Nevadan. He said Thursday he hopes Sandoval’s name will come up again in the future.

“As a friend and former colleague of Governor Sandoval’s, I believe he is eminently qualified for this position,” Heller said.

Sandoval’s consideration was first reported by The Washington Post.

___

Jalonick reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Kathleen Hennessy in Washington and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that Catherine Cortez Masto is a former Nevada attorney general.

More in News

Danial Roberts, an employee at Viking Lumber Company, looks out at lumber from a forklift in Klawock, Alaska. (Courtesy of Viking Lumber Company)
Threads of the Tongass: The future of pianos and the timber industry

Timber operators say they are in crisis and unique knowledge, products will be lost

Suicide Basin as of 10:01 a.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2025, taken by a U.S. Geological Survey camera at the basin entrance facing northeast, into the basin. (Screenshot from National Weather Service Juneau page)
Glacial lake outburst swells Salmon River near Hyder

The isolation of Salmon River limits the impact of flooding

Kahyl Dybdahl, left, and Bronze Chevis eat an egg sandwich breakfast before school at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
School board allocates extra state funds

More state funds available, but funding issues and federal uncertainty abound

Max Webster stands with Lemon Creek Correctional Center staff in front of new control tower on Tuesday, July 9, 2025. (Natalie Buttner / Juneau Empire)
A towering accomplishment for new Eagle Scout

Max Webster honored at Firearms Training Center Control Tower ribbon-cutting ceremony

Andy Engstrom (left) uses bitcoin to buy lemonade and cookies from business owner Denali Schijvens (right) on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Alaska’s 1st Bitcoin conference held in Juneau

State leaders discuss integrating Bitcoin in Alaska energy, investment and universities

Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, delivers his keynote address to approximately 40 people, most of whom are from out of state, at the end of the Bitcoin Alaska conference on Sunday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Begich and Bitcoin fly to Juneau after passage of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Protesters seek town hall with representative; he delivers keynote address at ticketed conference

Brad Hogarth, one of four finalists to be the new music director of the Juneau Symphony, guides the ensemble through a rehearsal at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
A pink peony blooms in Chris Urata’s garden on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Empire)
Master Gardeners Tour showcases excellence in landscaping

Annual fundraising event features gardens on 11 properties

Most Read