Nevada will have open U.S. House race to replace Dean Heller

CARSON CITY — Secretary of State Ross Miller opened the floodgates Monday when he announced the Sept. 13 special election for the 2nd Congressional District will be a free-for-all — an open ballot for any Republican or Democrat who is qualified to run.

In fact, Miller’s office won’t even charge the customary $300 filing fee. The announcement could set the stage for a California-like scrum of dozens of Republicans competing with dozens of Democrats for the chance to serve out the remainder of Republican Rep. Dean Heller’s term after he is sworn in this month to the U.S. Senate.

But stronger forces are aligning that may keep that from happening — namely Democrats’ desire to give their candidate a fighting chance to win the seat and Republicans’ desire to marginalize former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle after she bungled last year’s race against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Miller’s decision to take the nominating process out of the hands of the state Republican and Democratic parties unleashed a flood of accusations from Republicans that his decision was partisan and not based on the law. “Any suggestion that this wasn’t a partisan decision is laughable,” Republican consultant Ryan Erwin said.