SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY–Gov. Brian Sandoval today issued the following statement regarding the appointment process to replace Sen. John Ensign, who resigned his Senate seat effective May 3:
“Under Nevada law, the Governor has the authority to make an appointment of some qualified person to fill the vacancy, who shall hold office until the next general election. Under Nevada law, there is no established timeframe for making such an appointment. In Nevada’s history, only eight U.S. Senators have been appointed, most recently Paul Laxalt on December 18, 1974.
“Pursuant to the relevant law I expect to announce an appointment before the resignation effective date of May 3. I take very seriously the importance of this appointment, so to speculate on potential candidates for appointment before then would be premature.”
Appointed U.S. Senators from Nevada:
1912: First appointed Senator was W.A. Massey (R) who was appointed on July 1, 1912, to succeed George Nixon (R), who died on June 5, 1912.
1918: Charles Henderson (D) appointed on January 12, 1918, to replace Francis Newlands (D), who died on December 24, 1917.
1940: Key Pittman (D) died November 10, 1940, 5 days after being re-elected. Berkeley Bunker (D) appointed on November 26 to full the Senate seat until the next general election.
1942: James Scrugham (D) defeated Bunker in the primary. Bunker resigned December 6 to provide Senatorial seniority.
1945: Edward Carville (D) appointed on July 24, 1945, to replace Scrugham, who died on June 23, 1945.
1954: Patrick McCarran (D) died while campaigning on September 28, 1954. Ernest Brown (R) appointed on October 1, 1954, to succeed McCarran. Lost general election to Alan Bible (D) and subsequently resigned on December 1 to give Bible seniority. Bible appointed on December 2, 1954.
1974: Alan Bible resigned on December 17, 1974, to give newly-elected Paul Laxalt (R) seniority. Laxalt appointed December 18, 1974.
