Source:
TPMNevada Secretary of State Ross Miller (D) has announced that the special election to replace Republican Rep. Dean Heller, who has been appointed to the Senate, will feature a single-round, potentially multi-candidate race in which anybody can file -- a development that could potentially hurt Republican efforts to hold on to the seat if they were to split their votes.
The initial expectation had been that party leaders would select nominees for the race, without a primary -- a scenario that would likely hurt the chances of unsuccessful 2010 Senate nominee Sharron Angle -- but that there was also the possibility of a wide-open race.
A similar election took place in Hawaii last year, in which Democrats split the vote between two candidates against one Republican in a normally very blue district. This helped to elect Republican candidate Charles Djou, who later narrowly lost re-election to a full term in November 2010, when he faced only a single Democrat.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/nevada-sec-of-state-announces-wide-open-special-election-to-heller-seat.php