NV Supreme Court Upholds Ruling in CD2 Case - Republicans Rejoice

From the AP:

The Nevada Supreme Court says state Republican and Democratic party leaders can choose their candidate to run for the state's open U.S. House seat.

In a decision issued late Tuesday, justices upheld a lower court ruling and sided with the state Republican Party over Democrats and Secretary of State Ross Miller, who said the Sept. 13 special election should be an open contest.

The Nevada Republican Party issued the following press release after the ruling:

LAS VEGAS, NV – Amy Tarkanian, Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, released the statement below following Supreme Court decision regarding the CD2 special election.

“We are extremely pleased with today’s ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court. The Nevada Republican Party chose to fight to preserve and protect the rights of the constituents of Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District and today’s ruling is a victory for us all. The decision handed down today simply affirms our unwavering position and finalizes an answer to our questions with the Secretary of State’s unfortunate initial ballot rules. Today’s ruling moves us one step closer to preserving this important seat, carrying our momentum into 2012 and turning Nevada red again.”

The Republicans have held this seat ever since it was created. It is widely believed the Democrats' only chance in this special election was a free-for-all "ballot royale" election in which everyone was free to register under their own party. Under this scenario, the much-more disciplined Democrats would run a single candidate while a number of Republicans would flood the field and split the party's vote among them.

This is why the Democrats favored the "ballot royale" created by Secretary of State Ross Miller and the Republicans sued to stop it.

The Supreme Court's decision ensures that only Mark Amodei, who was selected at the state party's central committee meeting a few weeks ago, will be able to run as a Republican. Barring anything unforeseen (and that never happens, right?) Amodei would have to be considered the favorite at this point.