U.S. Senate, congressional candidates file to run

On opening day for Nevadans to file for office, more than 70 hopefuls handed in paperwork Monday to declare their candidacies, led by U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican likely to face Democratic Senate challenger U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley in the November general election.

The only surprise came in the race to replace state Sen. Elizabeth Halseth, a Republican who suddenly resigned her seat midterm last month in the midst of a divorce and custody battle.

Mari Nakashima St. Martin, a Republican operative who has worked for the state party and top GOP elected officials, filed for Halseth's Senate District 9 as GOP contender Dr. Vick Gill dropped out of the race 12 days after he announced his bid with the backing of Senate Republicans.

Gill was a newcomer to the Silver State. St. Martin is a third-generation Nevadan who grew up in rural Ely and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. With her Japanese-American heritage, St. Martin would be the first Asian in the Senate if she won the district, which is about one-quarter Asian by population. The Assembly has had two Asian members.

"After having a baby, my life changed in an instant with my daughter," said St. Martin, who recently had her first child, now several months old. "I want to be a part of the team that gets Nevadans working again, that creates an environment where people want to come here and want to stay here."

St. Martin, 27, is expected to be endorsed today by the Senate Republican Caucus, which has been recruiting candidates in hopes of taking control of the upper house in 2012. Now, Democrats control the Senate 11-10. Five battleground seats are in play this election year, including District 9.

The Democratic Senate Caucus has endorsed Justin Jones, a 37-year-old lawyer who has lived in Senate District 9 for more than a decade. Jones also filed his candidacy papers on Monday. Democrats hold a 2,100-registered voter advantage in the district, which could give Jones a boost.

The filing period for nonjudicial candidates lasts until 5 p.m. March 16. The Nevada primary is June 12. The main parties' winning nominees will face one another in the Nov. 6 general election.

At stake in 2012 is Heller's Senate seat, four congressional seats, all 42 Assembly seats, about half of the 21 state Senate seats and state Board of Education and Board of Regents positions. Four Clark County Commission and four Clark County School Board seats also are up for grabs.

Both Heller and Berkley have primary challengers, but the Republican and Democratic parties are throwing their full support behind the two main contenders in what's expected to be one of the hardest-fought races in the country as Democrats try to maintain control of the Senate in 2012.

Heller was appointed to the Senate in May to complete the term of Sen. John Ensign, a Republican who resigned after an affair and ethics investigation.

On Monday, Heller turned in his official Senate candidacy paperwork with the Nevada secretary of state's office in Carson City. Berkley is expected to file next week when the House is in recess.

On the Democratic side, Nancy Price, who ran against Heller for Congress in 2010, filed to compete against Berkley for the Senate. Price said that she doesn't think either Berkley or Heller is doing a good job in Washington and that she's part of the Occupy Congress movement to replace incumbents.

"I'm part of the 89 percent of the country that doesn't think Congress is doing a good job," Price said in a telephone interview from Carson City, where she filed.

Las Vegas businessman Barry Ellsworth also is expected to run for the Senate as a Democrat.

On the Republican side, Ed Hamilton, a perennial candidate, was the first to file paperwork Monday to run for the Senate. He ran as a Democrat in 2010 against U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Hamilton said he wants to open thousands of jobs in Nevada to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by allowing those as young as 18 years old to work in casinos. Now, the legal age limit for drinking and gambling is 21, which prevents those who are younger from working many gaming jobs.

Hamilton said about 35 percent of war veterans are 18 to 20 years old. The 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote in the wake of the Vietnam War, he noted. "If they can fight in wars, why can't they get a job in the casinos?" Hamilton asked.

Two other perennial candidates filed to run in the GOP primary for Senate: Sherry Brooks of Reno and Carlo Poliak of Las Vegas. Both ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

In other federal offices, Republican Danny Tarkanian was the first congressional contender to file his paperwork. The businessman and former UNLV basketball star is making his fourth bid for office after losing the GOP primary in the U.S. Senate race in 2010.

Tarkanian is running for Nevada's new 4th Congressional District, which covers parts of North Las Vegas, Lyon County and five rural counties: Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye and White Pine.

The GOP field should be crowded in the race for the new seat. State Sen. Barbara Cegavske of Las Vegas is expected to file as well as Dan Schwartz, a Las Vegas businessman, and Kenneth Wegner, a Gulf War veteran who has run several times against Berkley.

State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford is the Democratic Party's favored choice to run in the district. He isn't expected to face any serious Democratic primary competition.

Democrats have a voter registration edge over Republicans in the new 4th District of about 10 percentage points, making the race an uphill battle for the eventual GOP nominee.

"It's not an easy race," Tarkanian said. "But we're real excited about running."

In Northern Nevada, Russell Best filed as the Independent American candidate for the 2nd Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., plans to file for re-election today .

In Las Vegas, Clark County Commissioners Larry Brown and Lawrence Weekly filed for re-election.

Brown, 54, is seeking his second term representing District C, which includes the Summerlin area.

"It will take a lot of hard work," Brown said of his re-election campaign. "We've come through some difficult times in the county with budget challenges."

The county is working to fill a $42 million budget gap for fiscal year 2012.

Brown, a Democrat, will face off against Republican challenger Gary Hosea, who also filed Monday. Hosea unsuccessfully ran for County Commission in 2008.

Weekly, 47, also a Democrat, is seeking a second term. He said his campaign will focus on job creation, filling foreclosed homes with families and working with the county's Department of Family Services related to adoptions.

"That last one is more personal than campaignish," Weekly said. "I will use this platform to continue to spread the message, as many kids as we can get off that list into a loving, supporting family."

Review-Journal Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel and reporter Kristi Jourdan contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.