Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller (D) has announced that the special election to replace Republican Rep. Dean Heller, who has been appointed to the Senate, will feature a single-round, potentially multi-candidate race in which anybody can file — a development that could potentially hurt Republican efforts to hold on to the seat if they were to split their votes.
The initial expectation had been that party leaders would select nominees for the race, without a primary –Â a scenario that would likely hurt the chances of unsuccessful 2010 Senate nominee Sharron Angle — but that there was also the possibility of a wide-open race.
A similar election took place in Hawaii last year, in which Democrats split the vote between two candidates against one Republican in a normally very blue district. This helped to elect Republican candidate Charles Djou, who later narrowly lost re-election to a full term in November 2010, when he faced only a single Democrat.
The Las Vegas Sun reports:
Saying the decision on who to elect should rest with the people and not “politically elite powerbrokers,” Secretary of State Ross Miller announced today that the special election ballot for the 2nd Congressional District will be open to all candidates and not just nominees selected by the state’s political party.
“There’s only one critical question: how are those candidates picked? By the people of the state of Nevada or by a small group of powerful party officials,” Miller said. “We are announcing the ballot will be open to all qualified candidates.”
The special election will be Sept. 13 to replace U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who will be appointed to the U.S. Senate next month following Sen. John Ensign’s resignation.
In response, the state GOP released a statement from executive director Cory Adair, leaving the door open to a possible legal challenge:
“The Nevada Republican Party is extremely disappointed in the Secretary of State’s ruling today. Secretary Miller seems to have allowed partisan politics to direct his decision concerning how to conduct the special election in U.S. Congressional District 2. His apparent preference for a free-for-all disregards both legal precedent and the traditional nomination method in Nevada. The Nevada Republican Party stands firm that state law ensures major party central committees should be the nominating body for their own candidates in a special election. There is no more substantial public interest than in fair elections, conducted by an orderly voting process, in compliance with Nevada law and the U.S. Constitution. Secretary of State Miller squandered an opportunity today and chose political posturing and partisan gamesmanship over the rights of Nevadans. The Nevada Republican Party will consider all options to protect the election process for the benefit of the citizens living in Congressional District 2. This may include the initiation of litigation,” concluded Adair.
