Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, having won re-election in a swing state with over 70 percent of the vote. He is Hispanic at a time when the GOP needs entrée into this growing demographic group.
The governor has been spoken of as a possible vice presidential candidate or as the GOP's contender to fill the seat that Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, will leave open when he retires,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
The GOP's infrastructure in the state is weak and many conservative candidates entered office in the last election on Sandoval's coattails. The Culinary Union Local 226 has a considerable Latino membership, favors immigration reform, and plays a key role in mobilizing potential voters in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans.
The union backed Sandoval's re-election bid.
Some Republicans, however, have become wary of Sandoval because he has taken positions that fiscal and social conservatives find troubling, the Journal reported.
Sandoval is advocating a $1.1 billion tax increase featuring a business-license fee intended to raise $438 million over two years. If passed by the legislature, it would be the biggest tax increase in the state's history.
Nevada has no income tax and is among the states with the lowest tax burdens.
State support for education is also among the lowest in the nation. Sandoval would use some of the new tax revenue to pay for his education initiatives, including spending more to teach English, according to the Journal.
Some 27.5 percent of state residents are of Latino heritage. Half of the overall population earns less than $52,800, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau.
The governor also supports keeping abortion legal. He refuses to use the courts to oppose same-sex marriage. And he is not in favor of states taking President Barack Obama to court over his executive actions on immigration, the Journal reported.
Sandoval has also been criticized for offering Tesla Motors $1.3 billion in tax breaks to set up its $5 billion advanced battery factory in Nevada.
"I'm as conservative as anybody, but it's not conservative to have bad schools. It's not conservative to have bad roads. It's not conservative to have budget struggles every other year," Sandoval told the Journal. "Growth isn't paying for itself."
Republican state Assemblywoman Michele Fiore of Las Vegas opposes the governor's tax hike plan. "He is a popular guy — he has got a presidential resume — but his policies are not as popular as he thinks," said told the Journal.
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