Angle challengedid little damage

We were pleased that congressional candidate Sharron Angle dropped her challenge to the Aug. 15 election of Dean Heller to represent Republicans in the November general election.

The Heller-Angle vote was close, just over half a percent of the sprawling Second Congressional District's Republicans voted for Heller over Angle.

Angle's contention was that her race was lost in Washoe County, where she had previously won her seat in the Assembly. There were problems with the Washoe primary election, sparked by the failure of 100 poll workers to show up that morning.

Despite that well-documented disaster, attorneys for Angle could not show that any of the people they named as plaintiffs had been denied the right to vote.

So, only three days after filing the challenge and with one judicial strike against it, Angle decided not to appeal Judge William Maddox's decision.

Add to that, questions as to whether problems in Washoe County would force the other 16 Nevada counties to hold another election and Angle's lawsuit was doomed from the start.

We have to say that Democrats in the district were probably hoping for an Angle win in court, hoping the acrimony of the election would split the Republican party and give Gardnerville resident Jill Derby a chance.

Because Angle's challenge ended up being quick and relatively painless for Republicans, who have a large majority over Democrats in the district, we believe Derby will have an uphill fight against the more moderate Heller.