Nevada Senate Appointment May Hurt Heller

The consensus is that GOP Rep. Dean Heller will be appointed to fill the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Nevada’s John Ensign. But that may hurt him more than it helps in next year’s election for the seat, Politico reports.

It cites a report from The New York Times showing that of the 49 senators selected by gubernatorial appointment in the middle of a term over the past 25 congresses, only 19 won their subsequent election.

To be sure, in recent years, there have been plenty of appointees who did quite well: Republicans Roger Wicker of Mississippi and John Barrasso of Wyoming and Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, for example.