A dedicated race-watcher tells me, “Republicans just won next year’s Nevada governor’s race.” He exaggerates a bit, but word is that Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, a Democrat, is filing papers to run for governor as an independent.

Obviously, there are no guarantees; there’s a reason they run the campaigns. But in a three-way race between a Republican, a Democrat, and a Democrat-turned independent, the GOP can feel pretty good. A poll on this scenario has already been conducted:

If Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman runs as an independent candidate for governor, he would pull more support from Democrat Rory Reid than Republican Brian Sandoval in a three-way match up, a Nevada News Bureau poll shows.
The automated poll of active voters conducted Friday and Saturday generated 3,080 responses, with 35 percent supporting Sandoval, 28 percent supporting Goodman, 21 percent supporting Reid and 16 percent preferring some other candidate.