Amodei leaving GOP primary race for U.S. Senate

Carson City's Mark Amodei announced today he is pulling out of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

"I still think I brought the depth in key areas to ultimately have a path to beat Harry (Reid, D-Nv)," Amodei said.

He said the problem was money as more than a dozen GOP candidates battle for position with a bit more than three months until the June primary. Amodei said he has always had difficulty doing the things necessary to raise campaign cash.

"It's that you need some of it now and you know it's not there," he said. "One of my strengths is not shaking people down."

In a statement released on his website, Amodei said simply that he failed to generate the necessary financial resources and that, "the reality is, in many instances, voters are drawn to those candidates who expend the largest sums."

"I will not mortgage or deficit spend in a campaign any more than I believe that we should deficit spend or mortgage for our children's' or Nevada's or America's futures."

He said he has no intention of running in another race this cycle.

"The reasons that got me out of this race apply if I try to get into another one now," he said.

Amodei said he intends to focus on the decisions he must make as a state Senator in the Legislature this week.

"The stuff that's going on starting tomorrow is stuff I've got some pretty strong feelings about," he said.

Amodei voted against nearly all of the tax increases and budget bills at the end of the 2009 Legislature and has maintained since then that Nevada government needs to reduce its spending rather than raise taxes.

He said pulling out of the Senate race will also forestall any charges he might be using the special legislative session to boost his candidacy.

"I don't want people saying I'm trying to use the special session as a platform to forward my own interests," he said. "You can disagree with my politics but don't accuse me of grandstanding.

He is termed out as a state senator at the end of this year but said he is still interested in public service.

For the future, he said he thinks ending his U.S. senate campaign is a wise move at this point.

"I think this leaves any future doors open," he said, "more open than if I stayed in and didn't do well just because I didn't have money."

Amodei is finishing his third term in the Nevada Senate. He also served one term in the Nevada Assembly.