60th Senator Comes On Board: Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) Backs ENDA

Sorry, Eugene! Tough titties, Brian Brown. We now have the necessary 60 votes to block a filibuster of ENDA. From the website of Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV):

“After listening to Nevadans’ concerns about this issue from a variety of viewpoints and after numerous conversations with my colleagues, I feel that supporting this legislation is the right thing to do. Under the leadership of this Governor, as well as the legislature over the past several years, Nevada has established a solid foundation of anti-discrimination laws. This legislation raises the federal standards to match what we have come to expect in Nevada, which is that discrimination must not be tolerated under any circumstance,” said Senator Dean Heller.

A former member of the US House, Heller was appointed to the Senate in 2011 following the resignation of Sen. John Ensign. Heller has a 15% rating from the Human Rights Campaign and is on the record as opposing marriage equality. In 2010 he voted against the repeal of DADT while in the House. Today’s move is doubtlessly dangerous for Heller, so let’s give him props.