Kathy Augustine Nevada controller running for office of state treasurer Chaz Higgs, husband of Nevada Controller Kathy Augustine, answers questions Monday in Carson City. Augustine suffered a massive heart attack over the weekend and is in a Reno hospital. Photo by The Associated Press

CARSON CITY -- State Controller Kathy Augustine remained in critical condition Monday in the intensive care unit at Washoe Medical Center after a massive heart attack Saturday in her Reno home.

Her husband, Chaz Higgs, said he found Augustine, 50, lying unconscious in bed Saturday morning. Higgs, a critical care nurse at Carson-Tahoe Hospital, said his wife had no pulse, and he immediately called for an ambulance.

Augustine had complained in recent days about a stomachache, but she does not have a history of serious medical problems, Higgs said.

As for what brought on the heart attack, Higgs said, "Stress. I think that is probably the factor. She has been complaining about it during the whole campaign."

During his news conference at the Capitol on Monday, Higgs refused to answer questions about whether Augustine was on life support systems at the Reno hospital. Higgs would only say that she is in a coma.

"We won't know the full prognosis until tomorrow," Higgs said.

Augustine, a former Republican state senator from Las Vegas, will complete her second and final term as state controller at the end of the year. She filed her candidacy in May for the Aug. 15 Republican primary for state treasurer.

Higgs said he didn't know how her candidacy would be handled now.

"Right now our primary concern is her health," Higgs said. "We aren't thinking about campaigning, or politics or anything like that."

Phil Alfano, Augustine's brother, said his parents have joined him and other family members at the hospital. Augustine is the mother of four children, including a daughter, Dallas Augustine, who attended the news conference, but chose not to speak.

Even if Kathy Augustine is incapacitated or dies, her name cannot be removed from the primary election ballot, according to the secretary of state's office. Candidates by law had to withdraw their names by May 22. Early voting for the primary begins July 29.

Augustine's two primary opponents wouldn't say whether they would suspend campaigning while Augustine is in a coma.

"We wish her a full and speedy recovery," said Ryan Erwin, campaign manager for Mark DeStefano, a businessman seeking the Republican treasurer nomination. "However, we know very few specifics about her condition at this time, therefore it would be premature to discuss any campaign-related decisions."

The third Republican candidate, retiree Joseph Pitts, said he would need more information before deciding how to proceed with the campaign. "Right now my only concern is with her and her family," Pitts said.

Two Democrats and an Independent American are also running for the office.

Augustine is the only state official in Nevada history to have been impeached.

The state Assembly impeached her on three counts of breaking campaign ethics laws in 2004. Earlier the Ethics Commission fined her $15,000 after she signed a statement that she had violated ethics laws.

The state Senate in December 2004, however, convicted her on just one of the three impeachment counts. State senators found that she violated a state law by using equipment in her state office to advancing her re-election campaign in 2002.

Despite that conviction, the Senate only reprimanded Augustine. She was not removed from office. Before the impeachment hearings, Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and other top Republican leaders had urged her to resign.

At May's state Republican convention, party Chairman Paul Adams, who had asked Augustine not to run, succeeded in getting a bylaw change passed that essentially disowned Augustine. The rule change says that the party will not acknowledge candidates who have been impeached and convicted.

Adams said Monday he felt only concern for Augustine.

"I just hope she gets better," he said. "My goal was for her to live a long and productive life, just not as a Republican candidate."

Augustine has continued to maintain her innocence and asserted in an interview last January that a victory in the treasurer's race would vindicate her reputation as a dedicated and responsible public official.

"My name recognition is high," she said. "I have some unfavorables, but I have done a lot of good things in this office. The press only concentrates on the negatives. I have to overcome that by focusing it on the positives."

Higgs acknowledged during the news conference that he and other family members had been concerned about Augustine embarking on another political campaign in what would be an "uphill battle to win."

But, he said, she wanted to run and had been putting in full days in the controller's office and then spending weekends and evenings on the treasurer's campaign.

Deputy Controller Bill Reinhard said he will serve as acting controller in Augustine's absence.

Review-Journal writer Molly Ball contributed to this report.