For those not following the interesting politics of our neighboring state, Nevada, United States Senator John Ensign, a Republican, suddenly announced he is quitting from office, effective Friday.  He cited ongoing personal costs of an ethics investigation, the details of which are suitable for People magazine…  It is widely anticipated that Republican Governor Brian Sandoval will appoint Congressman John Heller (yep, an “R) to fill out the remaining 20 months or so of Ensigns term.  Heller is the leading GOP candidate for that seat at this time.  When that happens, it will set into motion a special election to fill the Heller seat…

Native Californian and FR friend John Fund, an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, penned this very interesting analysis that reveals an interesting twist.  One of the candidates (some would say the leading candidate) for the GOP nomination for Heller’s seat is Sharon Engle (yes, the controversial conservative GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Nevada last year who came up short in her efforts to knock off Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid).  However, it’s not Republican voters who get to pick the GOP nominee in a special election…  Who does it?  Read on…

. . .Quandary for Nevada GOP

GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada is almost certain to appoint Reno Congressman Dean Heller to the vacancy created by Sen. John Ensign’s resignation. That gives Republicans a leg up in holding Mr. Ensign’s seat in 2012, but it also means they must defend Rep. Heller’s House seat in a special election this fall.

Establishment Republicans are nervous about nominating Sharron Angle, who lost a contentious race against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last November. Ms. Angle, who was backed by several tea party groups, has already announced her candidacy for the Heller seat. But party leaders claim she blew a big lead in the Reid race, and they may be leery of nominating her in a district that split evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 election.

Ms. Angle’s supporters respond that their candidate is an effective grass-roots campaigner, served in the state legislature from the Reno area, and that the district normally votes Republican — giving George W. Bush a 57% victory in 2004.

But Ms. Angle may nonetheless be at a disadvantage when a party nominee is picked for the special election. Under Nevada law, nominees for the special are picked not by voters in a primary but by members of the state party central committee. So party leaders would be free to pick Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki or another more traditional candidate.

Such a move may allow party leaders to avoid nominating what they view as a polarizing candidate. But they should be careful. When GOP party leaders nominated liberal Dede Scozzafava for a New York Congressional special election in 2009, grass-roots voters revolted and backed a Conservative Party nominee. The end result was a divided party and a victory for Democrat Bill Owens.

Party leaders will have to tread carefully in Nevada. True, Ms. Angle may have some liabilities. But if the GOP establishment declines to nominate her they could create a breach with Ms. Angle’s enthusiastic supporters that could hand the seat over to a Democratic candidate.

— John Fund

This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Blog Posts.