A mere four months after GOP contender Sharron Angle was defeated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Angle has announced that she will seek another Congressional bid in 2012. In a YouTube video released on Wednesday, as well as via Twitter tweets and an email to her supporters, Angle declared that she will run once again to “stop the liberal agenda.”
In addition to her 2010 run for the Senate seat, Angle also ran for a House position in 2006, but lost in the GOP primary to Representative Dean Heller, who has announced that he will be running for Senator John Ensigns seat. This provides an opportunity for Angle to pursue a Nevada House seat.
In her Youtube video wherein she announces her candidacy, Angle declares:
Families across Nevada are discussing losing their homes, unemployment and making ends meet. I know thats what Ive been talking about with my children and their families. This is the state of the economy. Today I want to talk about those concerns with you.
Im a grandmother and a former teacher, and I am most concerned about the enormous debt we are passing along to our children and our grandchildren unless we get back to the government based on the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, and personal accountability and resourcefulness.
The 2010 election was bittersweet. Conservatives had some victories but we still face obstacles from Democrats in Congress and in the White House. The Obama administration has made it clear that it intends to pursue unconstitutional legislation like Obamacare, job-killing policies, new regulations, and a federal spending increase that will paralyze our economic health. And the Democrats in Congress have pledged their support for this agenda.
Thats why today I am announcing that I am running for Congress. The effort to bring the peoples voice back into government did not end in 2010.
Though Angle was ahead of Senator Reid by three points just one day prior to Election Day, she lost by 6 percentage points in Nevada. She managed to raise $14 million in a single three-month fundraising quarter and was ahead in a series of polls prior to the election.
The Blaze reports:
The high-profile race helped to make her a tea party leader and in her concession speech, she indicated she likely would pursue office again. Recently, she has traveled to Republican rallies in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and kept followers abreast of her whereabouts through her Twitter account.
Angle has successfully made a name for herself among constitutional conservatives, including Tea Parties, with her constitutionalist values.
For example, she has called for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations:
The United Nations resides on our soil and costs us money. … I dont see any place in the Constitution with those priorities about the United Nations. So when we start talking about cutting programs, 5 percent per year, I think the United Nations fits into that category.
Likewise, Angle has called for the elimination of unconstitutional agencies such as the Departments of Education and Energy, prompting Reid to attack the Tea Party favorite as a conservative extremist throughout his campaign.
Reids campaign also revealed videos of Angle slamming abortion, federal benefits such as social security and unemployment, and illegal immigrants positions which made her more popular among authentic conservatives, and a prime target for the Democrats.
Establishment Republicans were intimidated by Angles bold assertions, and continue to be. GOP consultant Ryan Erwin claims, Her unfavorables are higher than her favorables, even with Republican primary voters. If thats accurate it could put the seat in jeopardy against a moderate Democrat. Can she get elected? Thats the wild card on this.
According to The Blaze, the GOP primary for the House seat could be crowded: Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is also eyeing the congressional seat, as is State Sen. Greg Bower and state GOP Chairman Mark Amodei.
As for the Democrats, potential contenders for the House seat include former congressional candidate Jill Derby, state Assemblyman Debbie Smith, and state Treasurer Kate Marshall.
Zach Zaragoza, executive director for the Nevada State Democratic Party, asserts, We were going to pursue this seat whether Sharron Angle jumped into it or not.
For her part, Angle has maintained the same optimism that characterized her 2010 campaign. In her email to her supporters, she contends, The job still needs doing, and I wont stand by and wait for someone else to do it.
