President Donald Trump has convinced Republican businessman Danny Tarkanian to drop his bid to unseat Sen. Dean Heller, R- Nev., The Washington Post is reporting.
Tarkanian said Trump "and members of his political team" had asked him to run for Congress instead.
"I am confident I would have won the U.S. Senate race and done a great job representing the people of Nevada in the Senate, but the President is adamant that a unified Republican ticket in Nevada is the best direction for the America First movement," he said.
"With President Trump's full support and endorsement, I am filing to run again in (the 3rd Congressional District) with the firm belief that we will finish what we started in 2016 and win in 2018."
Tarkanian lost his 2016 bid to represent the 3rd District.
Trump had earlier claimed it would be "great for the Republican Party of Nevada and for unity if Heller ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
Trump made his remarks in a Friday afternoon tweet.
CNBC labeled Heller "the Senate's most vulnerable Republican." It had said a bitter primary could have put the seat at further risk. Tarkanian has presented himself as a true conservative and someone who would support Trump's agenda in Washington.
A JMC Analytics poll taken in October found Heller trailing Tarkanian by 6 points.
But the Post noted Heller's re-election is important to the GOP's effort to at least preserve a two-seat Senate majority.
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