Nevadans frustrated without representation in House
By Frank X. Mullen Jr., Reno Gazette-Journal
When Democratic President Barack Obama this week urged Americans to contact their congressional representatives about the deadlock over raising the nation’s debt ceiling, Nevadans who live outside Clark County had no one to call in the U.S. House.
With the U.S. House of Representatives’ District 2 seat vacant since the resignation of U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., on May 9, thousands of Silver State voters are experiencing frustration without representation.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Heller to the U.S. Senate after U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., resigned in the wake of a sex scandal.
A special election won’t be held until in September to fill the vacancy.
“So who you gonna call?” asked Guy Rocha, former Nevada state archivist, a reference to the theme song for the movie “Ghostbusters. “For the first time in Nevada history, the answer, at least for District 2 constituents, is nobody.”
He said the state has never experienced “a vacancy like this,” and it’s complicated by coming at a critical time in history.
“We’ve never had a debt ceiling controversy like this one,” Rocha said. “This one is going right down to the wire, and the future of the nation’s economic viability could be on the line.”
District 2 residents who want to make their voices heard could call the state’s other two U.S. House members: U.S. Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, and Joe Heck, R-Henderson.