Dean Heller Stops Hosting Weekly Breakfast With Harry Reid

In a display of bipartisanship, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had been co-hosting a weekly breakfast for Nevadans visiting Washington, D.C., giving constituents a chance to meet with both their senators over orange juice and doughnuts.

Heller, however, has stopped participating in the Thursday morning tradition, which began after last November's election.

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Heller's spokeswoman Chandler Smith said the senator found it more effective to meet with constituents in a more personal setting.

“Sen. Heller did go to a few breakfasts after the election, but he found that the one-on-one constituent meetings were more productive, and that he preferred them,” Smith said.

These breakfasts are closed to the press; the Las Vegas Review Journal noted it was only when a reporter peeked into the room and saw Reid speaking alone that it became evident Heller was no longer participating.

Heller and Reid have had a hot and cold relationship. But Smith dismissed any attempts to read into Heller's decision to stop co-hosting the breakfasts.

Since the late 1990s, Reid has hosted a weekly "Welcome to Washington" breakfast for Nevadans at the Capitol. Former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) co-hosted the breakfast with Reid for 10 years.