2011 Nevada's 2nd congressional district special election

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.

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

Declared candidates

 * Timothy Fasano

Independent candidates

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

Polling

 * * Commissioned by Daily Kos and the SEIU