Watch CBS News

Report: Sen. Dean Heller reveals he voted for Trump last November

Sen. Dean Heller has revealed that he wound up voting for Donald Trump for president last November.

"Yes, I voted for Donald Trump," he said in a statement texted to a reporter, according to The Nevada Independent newspaper.

The Nevada Republican told reporters in the month before the election that he was 99 percent sure he would oppose Mr. Trump for president, the report notes.

Heller, 57, has served in the Senate since 2011 and previously served in the House and as secretary of state of Nevada. He's considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans up for re-election in the 2018 midterm elections. He was highly critical of the Senate Republican leadership's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in June, arguing that it would have taken health care coverage away from millions of Americans and tens of thousands of his constituents.

Last week, Danny Tarkanian, the son of former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, announced that he's launching a campaign to challenge Heller in the party's primary next year.

Tarkanian, 55, said that he supported Mr. Trump through the end of the 2016 campaign. He has run unsuccessfully for Congress several times -- for House seats and, in 2010, he tried to unseat Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.