Angle gets shot at political resurrection

How appropriate that on this Easter Sunday, Nevada marks yet another political resurrection.

And this one, so unexpected and undeserved, could answer the prayers of the tea party movement.

Sharron Angle, less than six months ago a national embarrassment following her humiliating election loss to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, might very well find herself representing Nevada in Congress by summer.

The GOP's Angle stands out as a clear-cut winner following Thursday's news that Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is resigning effective May 3.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval is expected to appoint Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., to replace the scandal-scarred Ensign -- Heller already is running for the post, and Sandoval has endorsed Heller's candidacy. That move would require Sandoval to call a special election for Nevada's 2nd Congressional District to replace Heller.

Angle, the state's undisputed queen of campaign serendipity, just happens to be running hard for the 2nd District seat, which leans strongly Republican. She is far in front of her many potential rivals in the fundraising department, having collected an astounding $710,000 in the first three months of the year. Although she spent a lot of that money retiring debt from her failed 2010 campaign and has only $176,000 on hand, Angle has proved beyond any doubt that she'll have no trouble amassing more resources than anyone who might enter the 2nd District race, in either a special election this year or next year's general campaign.

She has an army of loyal, energized followers. She has a national network of donors. She has the tea party's stamp of approval. And because the 2nd District encompasses the entire state, minus most of the urban Las Vegas Valley, Angle benefits from a condensed election cycle since she just ran a statewide campaign.

Exactly how and when the 2nd District special election would play out is in question, but whatever form it takes, I don't see Angle being denied a spot on the ballot.

The vote would have to take place within 180 days of Heller's promotion. Nevada has never held a special election to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives, and such a race would have to comply with federal election laws as well as state statutes. Secretary of State Ross Miller and his staff have started researching how candidates would qualify for the ballot.

Under one scenario the major parties would caucus to select their candidates, a process that wouldn't favor Angle, considering her outsider status with the Republican Party's establishment. That would almost certainly compel Angle to run as an independent. New York used a party-selection procedure for its 26th Congressional District special election, scheduled for May 24.

Or, Miller could declare Nevada's election a free-for-all, with multiple candidates from the parties, plus independents, eligible to file for the 2nd District. That's the format of California's 36th Congressional District special primary election, scheduled for May 17.

Two things would be certain in a Nevada ballot. First, there will be only one winner-take-all vote -- no primary. And second, the election will wind up in court regardless of how Miller proceeds.

Again, advantage Angle. She'll have the money to go to court, whether she's fighting to get on the ballot or stay on it. And the larger the field, the better her chances.

Recall that Angle emerged from last June's GOP Senate primary because the ballot was so crowded. She won the 12-candidate race with 40 percent of the vote, while Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian divided mainstream party support, getting 26 percent and 23 percent support respectively.

Among the people who've either declared their candidacy for the 2nd Congressional District or are thinking about running: Mark Amodei, Nevada Republican Party Chairman and former state senator; state Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, the former U.S. attorney for Nevada; Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki; Republican Kirk Lippold, a retired Navy commander who helmed the USS Cole when it was bombed by al-Qaida in 2000; Democratic state Treasurer Kate Marshall; Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks; Reno City Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza, a Democrat who lost to Krolicki in last year's lieutenant governor's race; and former Regent Jill Derby, who lost to Heller in the 2006 and 2008 campaigns for the House seat.

Even if a special election draws only four or five of these candidates, Angle's path to victory is clear: Turn out the tea party and let the rest of the field split the remaining vote.

The state GOP needs to be careful what it wishes for, here. The party hierarchy is still livid that Reid won re-election last year, and they know Angle is pretty much incapable of surrounding herself with solid advisers and handlers. They desperately want her to go away. But if Miller favors a party-nominating process in the special election, an independent Angle campaign could pick off enough votes from the Republican nominee to hand the seat to the Democrats.

After all, the Democratic Party has mountains of anti-Angle material remaining from her bumbling campaign against Reid, and Angle's far-right, faith-based positions on social issues still drive moderates, libertarians and liberals up the wall.

Has Angle learned anything from the egg she laid last November? Does she still want to be friends with the media she runs from?

We'll see soon enough. The stars have aligned for Angle. It looks like she'll get another shot with voters a year before anyone thought she would. And her dominant campaign message -- that runaway government spending is pushing this country right off a cliff -- is playing out in the headlines every day.

She has risen. She has risen indeed.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.