LAS VEGAS _ Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, considered to be a vulnerable Republican in next year's midterm election, voted Tuesday to allow debate to go forward on a bill that would attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare.
On Twitter, this did not go unnoticed.
His statement attached to his tweet about why he chose to "vote to move forward and give us the chance to address the unworkable aspects of Obamacare" generated more than 5,300 replies within three hours of posting it.
Heller received some positive replies, like one from Duane Maddy, who praised his vote as wise.
But the vast majority of replies expressed anger, or eagerness to donate to his opponent.
For context, Heller's next most replied-to Twitter message this month was on July 13, when he received 472 responses to his tweet about having a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnunchin.
Of Hellers' 33 tweets in July, 22 generated fewer than 100 replies _ with most in the 20-to-30 range, which seems low for someone with 57,000 followers.
But Heller's position on repealing Obamacare has been one of constant speculation as he's been cast as a deciding vote on whether the GOP scraps the Affordable Care Act. He's been under pressure by both sides of the political aisle on the issue.
He's also in a bind given that Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a moderate Republican, appointed him to his Senate seat in the wake of John Ensign's resignation in 2011 and was the first GOP governor to sign onto Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.
Sandoval has been a critic of the repeal-and-replace legislation being sought by congressional Republicans, and he has Heller's ear.
But Heller's statement suggested that he was simply voting for debate and that "if the final product isn't improved for the state of Nevada, then I will not vote for it; if it is improved, I will support it."
In case he needed a reminder, the response to his tweeted statement showed how much anger there is at the attempt to repeal Obamacare in a state that went for Hillary Clinton and has been trending blue for a few years. There were links in the replies for likely challengers for his seat, including Jacky Rosen, a Democratic Nevada congresswoman.
.jpg?w=600)
