Special election attracts political novices

Rex Ricks is a science teacher who doesn't have deep pockets or a base of supporters. Despite his scant political collateral, the little known Democrat is running for Congress.

"It's a dream I had since I was a child, and then, suddenly, I had my chance," said Ricks, who has lived in Reno for barely a year but nevertheless hopes to win Nevada's first House special election in September.

He's not the only one. The circus-like atmosphere of the unprecedented Nevada race has grabbed national headlines and attracted a large field of unknown and unprepared contenders in the opening days of the candidate filing period.

For many, it's a unique opportunity to see their name on a ballot. For others, it's a shot at 15-minutes of political fame and the soapbox that comes with it.

Most have no chance of winning, lacking either name recognition or the ability to amass a campaign war chest - or both.

The unusually large candidate roster stems from a handful of relaxed election rules. Unlike most political contests, there won't be a primary and there are no fees to enter. Under the initial contest rules, major party candidates simply had to sign up to get on the ballot. Secretary of State Ross Miller deemed it the "ballot royale" when he announced the rules of the election in May.

Those provisions have since been complicated. The Nevada GOP is challenging the process in a lawsuit that seeks to limit the number of contestants through a closed-voting process that would allow elected party officials to select a general election candidate. Party leaders cite the growing crowd of unlikely candidates filing to run as evidence that open elections do not work.

"This is why the Republican Party did what it did," said Dave Buell, a state GOP leader named in the election lawsuit. "There has got to be some control over this and the Republican Party has got to have some say over this."

Democrats, too, lament the absence of a primary to separate the sanctioned candidates from the joyriders.

"It doesn't take a genius to see that if you have one strong Democratic candidate and a number of strong Republican candidates, that provides an opportunity for the one strong Democrat to win," said Chris Wicker, former chairman of the Washoe County Democrats in Reno.

The stakes are high. The northern Nevada district represented by Republican Dean Heller until he was appointed to the Senate last month has never elected a Democrat and the ultimate victor could help shape the balance of power in the GOP-led House going into the 2012 presidential election year.

Meanwhile, Nevada suffers from the highest foreclosure, bankruptcy and unemployment rates in the nation.

The favored Republicans vying for the job are State Sen. Greg Brower, former state GOP Chairman Mark Amodei and retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold. All three are calling party leaders to solicit their votes in case the GOP lawsuit prevails. The Democrats have two preferred contenders: former university regent Nancy Price and state Treasurer Kate Marshall.

The Nevada Supreme Court could decide the election rules this month. But the political and legal maneuvering has done little to deter the political novices flocking to the contest.

At least five independents, 15 Republicans and eight Democrats were scrambling to win the title as of late Friday and more are expected to jump in before the June 30 filing deadline.

Ricks, who recently relocated to Nevada from California, said he was inspired by the movie "Avatar", where "a guy comes to a new land and fights for the people."

He wants Congress to reconsider the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage that was left out of the health care law passed last year and said he hopes to promote ecotourism as a means of repairing Nevada's wounded economy.

"This is a rare opportunity," said Ricks, 44. "It's almost an equal opportunity race."

It's an optimistic, albeit improbable, sentiment shared by many of the special election's early candidates.

"The whole thing about someone being a serious candidate and someone not being a serious candidate, that needs to be thrown out," said Earl Ammerman, an independent candidate from Reno who wants the federal government to slash military spending and instead fund more green energy projects. "If someone wants to run, obviously they care about it because otherwise they wouldn't run."

This is the 28-year-old Ammerman's first campaign.

"I am going to try to win it," he said. "I am going to go out and get as many votes as possible."

Others hope to use the election to snag headlines.

"It's a bully pulpit," said Guy Felton, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Reno running as a Republican. "Also, on my resume I can say I was a candidate for Congress."

Felton wants to convince voters that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were orchestrated by then President George W. Bush. He says all elections are rigged.

"I want to hold a herd of hearings when I get to Washington, which I won't unless pigs fly," he said.

Then there's George Bay, a Carson City Democrat who insists "if you deny people health care, you are murdering them." He has spent $500 of his cash to purchase 24 campaign T-shirts.

"I know I am not going to win and I am not trying to win," he said. "I am trying to get people to wake up and realize what's going on."