Sharron Angle

Sharron Angle For Senate? Poll Says Fat Chance

Jon Terbush | April 29, 2011, 8:20AM

According to a PPP poll released this week, Sharron Angle would face strong opposition should she run for a Senate seat in Nevada next year. This time, however, that opposition would come from within her own party.

In the poll, Angle trailed Rep. Dean Heller (R) in a hypothetical Republican primary contest to seek the seat being vacated by embattled Sen. John Ensign (R) -- and it wasn't even close. In that matchup, Heller led Angle by a mammoth 84% to 8% margin.

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Topics: 2010 elections, 2012, 2012 elections, Dean Heller, John Ensign, NV-SEN, Nevada, Senate '12, Sharron Angle

NV-02

Angle Won't Run As Indy -- But Criticizes Special Election Process

Eric Kleefeld | April 27, 2011, 4:39PM

Sharron Angle, the former Nevada state representative and unsuccessful 2010 Republican Senate nominee, is committing to run for Nevada's open (and soon to be vacant) House seat as a Republican -- after some speculation that she might launch an independent bid if the party leaders did not select her for the special election.

At the same time, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports, Angle pledged to continue running in the Republican primary for the 2012 cycle, and she criticized the fact that party leaders, rather than voters, could end up picking the candidate -- a pretty clear hint that she could potentially challenge any Republican who does get elected, if she were passed over.

"I look forward to running in a legitimate campaign cycle where all registered voters are able to participate in both a primary and general election," Angle said in a statement released on Tuesday. "A special election free-for-all, or a situation where party insiders nominate a candidate, does disservice to our representative democracy."

On Wednesday, Rep. Dean Heller (R) was officially announced as the new appointee to the Senate after the resignation of Sen. John Ensign. Heller had already been running for the seat, following Ensign's earlier announcement that he would not run in 2012, which led Angle to declare her candidacy in her home House district that she had carried in the 2010 Senate race.

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Topics: 2011 Elections, Dean Heller, NV-02, Sharron Angle

NV-02

The GOP's Angle Problem: Nevada's Upcoming Special House Election

Eric Kleefeld | April 22, 2011, 11:53AM

The resignation of scandal-plagued Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), and the expected appointment of current Republican candidate Rep. Dean Heller to the seat, could portend a political mess of a wholly different sort: A special election for Heller's House seat -- and the conundrum for Republicans posed by the potential candidacy of their losing U.S. Senate nominee from 2010, Sharron Angle.

Angle, who lost the 2010 Senate race despite the national Republican wave -- due to controversy over extreme statements about "Second Amendment remedies" to Democratic policies, and her statements in favor of phasing out Social Security and Medicare -- has already been running for the House seat, along with retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold, who was chief officer of the U.S.S. Cole when it was attacked by al Qaeda in 2000. In addition, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki and state GOP chair Mark Amodei are reportedly considering the race.

The problem: Under the rules for special elections in Nevada, the parties would select the nominees rather than primary voters doing the job -- and the same party leaders who watched Angle blow the very winnable 2010 Senate race, would be much more likely to pick someone else.

As Roll Call reports:

If the parties are ultimately allowed to choose their nominees, a high-ranking Nevada GOP source said there is "no way" Angle would be tapped to be the party's standard-bearer. But Amodei would likely have the upper hand in that scenario.

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Topics: 2011 Elections, Dean Heller, NV-02, Sharron Angle