# 2011 Nevada's 2nd congressional district special election

Elections in Nevada :
Federal government
U.S. President
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
Dem
GOP
1916
Dem
GOP
1920
Dem
GOP
1924
Dem
GOP
1928
Dem
GOP
1932
Dem
GOP
1936
Dem
GOP
1940
Dem
GOP
1944
Dem
GOP
1948
Dem
GOP
1952
Dem
GOP
1956
Dem
GOP
1960
Dem
GOP
1964
Dem
GOP
1968
Dem
GOP
1972
Dem
GOP
1976
Dem
GOP
1980
Dem
GOP
1984
Dem
GOP
1988
Dem
GOP
1992
Dem
GOP
1996
Dem
GOP
2000
Dem
GOP
2004
Dem
GOP
2008
Dem
GOP
2012
Dem
GOP
2016
Dem
GOP
2020
Dem
GOP
2024
Dem
GOP
U.S. Senate
1865
1867
1869
1873
1875
1879
1881
1885
1887
1891
1893
1897
1899
1902
1903
1905
1909
1911
1913 (Sp)
1914
1916
1918 (Sp)
1920
1922
1926
1928
1932
1934
1938
1940
1942 (Sp)
1944
1946
1950
1952
1954 (Sp)
1956
1958
1962
1964
1968
1970
1974
1976
1980
1982
1986
1988
1992
1994
1998
2000
2004
2006
2010
2012
2016
2018
2022
2024
U.S. House
1864
1865
1866
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2nd
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Special elections
2nd district, 2011 :
State government
General
1864
1866
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial
1864
1866
1870
1874
1878
1882
1886
1890
1894
1898
1902
1906
1910
1914
1918
1922
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
Nevada Attorney General
2014
2018
2022
Nevada Senate
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Nevada Assembly
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2002 and 2016
2002 Nevada Question 2
2016 Nevada Question 2 :
Henderson
Mayoral
2017
2022 :
Las Vegas
Mayoral
1909
1911
1915
1919
1923
1927
1931
1935
1939
1943
1947
1951
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979
1983
1987
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2024 :
North Las Vegas
Mayoral
2013
2017
2022 :
Reno
Mayoral
1868
1870
1874
1878
1882
1886
1890
1894
1898
1902
1906
1910
1914
1918
1922
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
None of These Candidates
Nevada portal :
vte :
On September 13, 2011, a special election was held in Nevada's 2nd congressional district to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Republican Dean Heller, who was appointed to the United States Senate.
The race was called for Mark Amodei by the Associated Press just after 10 p.m. local time with 44% of precincts reporting and Amodei leading Marshall 57% to 37%. Amodei easily won the election by a margin of 58% to 36%.

## Rules

On May 2, 2011, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller announced the election, held under an untested 2003 law for replacing House members, would be open to any and all qualified candidates, without primary elections or nominations made by parties' central committees.
The Republican Party filed suit challenging Miller's plan, preferring instead that each party be required to nominate a single candidate. The party's complaint stated that "A fundamental principle of Nevada's electoral statutes is that, in a partisan election, there shall be only one nominee from each political party." On May 19, District Judge Todd Russell sided with the Republican Party and ruling that the major parties would hold conventions in order to each nominate a single candidate. Miller asked the office of the Nevada Attorney General to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Nevada, which on May 31 issued an order instructing Miller and the state's political parties to address whether the election can be rescheduled due to concerns that the ongoing dispute over its rules may necessitate a delay.

## Democratic nomination
### Nominee

* Kate Marshall, Nevada State Treasurer

### Declared candidates

* George S. Bay
* Chad Dehne, U.S. Marine Corps veteran
* Blake Franzman
* R. J. Gillum
* Zach Jones
* Kate Marshall, Nevada State Treasurer
* Jacques Maye
* Nancy Price, former regent of the Nevada System of Higher Education and unsuccessful candidate for the 2nd district in 2010
* Rex Ricks

### Declined to run

* Jill Derby, former regent of the Nevada System of Higher Education and unsuccessful candidate for the 2nd district in 2006 and 2008

## Republican nomination

The central committee of the Nevada Republican Party voted to decide the Republican nominee in June 2011. Any Republican who receives at least two votes from members of the central committee can compete in the nomination process, which will be held under a two-round system.

### Nominee

* Mark Amodei, state party chairman and former State Senator

### Declared candidates

* Mark Amodei, state party chairman and former State Senator
* Greg Brower, State Senator and former United States Attorney
* Hal Carmack
* Guy Felton
* William R. Graves
* Edward Hamilton, perennial candidate
* Ryan Henderson, optician
* Greg Hudson
* Robert X. Leeds
* Kirk Lippold, former USS Cole commander
* Daniel Miller
* Troy "Gunny" Orosco
* Phillip D. Telander
* Busch Voigts Jr.
* Jonathan M. Yuspa
* Sidney Zeller, U.S. Marine Corps veteran

### Declined to run

* Sharron Angle, former member of the Nevada Assembly and 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate
* Brian Krolicki, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada

## Independent American Party nomination
### Declared candidates

* Timothy Fasano

## Independent candidates

* Earl Ammerman
* Roland Lee
* Helmuth Lehmann, businessman and author
* Christopher Simon

## General election
### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Mark Amodei (R) | Kate Marshall (D) | Timothy Fasano (IAP) | Helmuth Lehmann (I) | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | September 9–11, 2011 | 629 | ± 3.9% | 50% | 37% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Public Policy Polling • | August 18–21, 2011 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 43% | 42% | 3% | 3% | 8% |
* • Commissioned by Daily Kos and the SEIU

### Results

Nevada's 2nd congressional district special election, 2011 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mark Amodei | 75,180 | 57.92 |
| | Democratic | Kate Marshall | 46,818 | 36.07 |
| | Independent | Helmuth Lehmann | 5,372 | 4.14 |
| | Independent American | Timothy Fasano | 2,421 | 1.87 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 129,791 | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |