CARSON CITY -- Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, one of the Legislature's most conservative voices, has registered as a candidate for Congress on the Federal Election Commission Web site.
Angle, R-Reno, has gathered a following in Northern Nevada by consistently voting against tax increases and pushing an initiative last fall to cap property taxes in a manner similar to California's Proposition 13.
For weeks, political watchers have speculated that she is positioning herself for a run for Rep. Jim Gibbons' seat in the 2nd Congressional District, which covers most of the state outside of the Las Vegas Valley.
Gibbons is expected to leave the seat and make a run for governor in 2006.
Angle declined to comment on the Web site or her potential candidacy, saying only, "I'm really seriously thinking about it.'
Her entrance into the race could make it one of the more interesting Republican primaries in the country, said Democratic consultant Billy Vassiliadis. Secretary of State Dean Heller has already announced he plans to run. Heller has raised at least $120,000, according to campaign reports filed in April with the FEC.
And Gibbons' wife, former Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons, also has been raising money for the seat. She reported about $101,000 in the April FEC filings.
Angle reported no contributions, only her candidacy.
Jim Denton, who has been managing Dawn Gibbons' campaign, declined to comment on how Angle would shake up the Republican primary. But he did point out that the combined legislative experience in the Republican field is more than usual for a congressional race.
Dawn Gibbons, for example, has more legislative experience than her husband did when he ran for Congress, Denton said.
"All three candidates have legislative records, and should that race materialize in that manner, it will give voters plenty of information to make decisions,' he said.
Vassiliadis said that's where the race could get interesting.
"That race will be a true test of what makes up that congressional seat,' he said.
Angle spearheaded the brief campaign last fall to implement a Proposition 13-style property tax cap.
Angle is a former teacher who now manages small businesses. She was first elected to the Legislature in 1998.
Heller and Gibbons are both known as enthusiastic and successful campaigners. Heller has won three statewide races for secretary of state and, before that, served two terms in the Assembly.
Gibbons served three terms in the Assembly and several additional months when she filled in for her husband while he was serving in the Desert Storm war.
She declined to run for re-election in 2004, after she was one of the deciding votes in favor of the tax increases passed in 2003.
The question is how the three candidates will split the Republican vote, Vassiliadis said. Republicans in the district had almost a 50,000-voter advantage at the end of April.
But the primary will indicate how conservative those Republicans are, Vassiliadis said.
"I think it could be one of the most fascinating races in the country," Vassiliadis said. "We'll find out what makes up Nevada Republicans."
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