Electoral chaos

Gov. Brian Sandoval said he’ll announce his appointment to replace Ensign before May 3, the date Ensign’s resignation becomes effective. It will be shocking if it is anybody other than Rep. Dean Heller.

Democrats announced Friday they intend to introduce a concurrent resolution in both houses, calling on Sandoval to conduct a “fair, open and transparent process for appointing a temporary replacement.” You know, with applications and time lines.

Of course, that’s a joke. State law clearly and unambiguously gives Sandoval the right to appoint anyone he wishes, without need of any public process. Mewling about transparency is the only card the Democrats have left, since they know Heller will gain a huge advantage by running as an incumbent. And it’s a metaphysical certainty that if Rory Reid had won the governor’s race in November, Democrats would be encouraging him to appoint the person with the best chance of whipping the would-be Republican senator in the next election. As the saying goes, elections have consequences.

But it’s not the all-but-certain appointment of Heller that’s generating the most heat. It’s the special election that would be necessary to replace him in the House.

For some reason, perhaps owing to the populist nature of the House, state lawmakers have stipulated that replacing a congressman requires a special election, not an appointment. And the rules set out in state law seem to allow pretty much anybody to toss his name into consideration.

(The secretary of state at week’s end was still sorting through the rules, but that’s forgivable. Nevada has never had a vacancy for a congressman in its 146-year history.)

Up until last week, there were only two candidates who said they would be vying to replace Heller: Former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, who lost a high-profile race to Harry Reid in 2010, and retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the skipper of the USS Cole when it was bombed in a Yemeni harbor in 2000.

But that was when it was a primary election slated for June 2012, not a winner-takes-all, no-primary special election held not later than 180 days after the governor issues a proclamation to fill the vacant seat.

Almost immediately Angle and Lippold were joined by appointed state Sen. Greg Brower, who had long been rumored to be interested in the congressional seat. (It will be a somewhat bitter homecoming of sorts for Brower, who once lost an Assembly race to Angle.)

Former state Sen. Mark Amodei, now chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, is also interested. He said Thursday — before news of Ensign’s departure broke — that he was still putting together his organization, staffing and fundraising plans. If Amodei gets in, the race will be very crowded.

And then there’s the only proven statewide winner, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who had said he would not announce his intentions until after the 2011 Legislature. And while a crowded field helps the candidate with the most recognizable name — and that would be Angle — the time to strike may be now for Krolicki.

There will still be the usual primary and general election in 2012, and whomever wins the special election this year will have to face voters again next year. Krolicki or Amodei could wait until next year to run, but if they do they’ll be forcing a Republican primary against an incumbent lawmaker, which doesn’t always go over well with voters.

And that’s not even taking into account the Democrats, or the third-party candidates …

 

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. His column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at (702) 387-5276 or at ssebelius@ reviewjournal.com.