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Sharron Angle

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Sharron Angle (born 1949) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Nevada Assembly from 1999 to 2005. She is a candidate in the 2010 Republican Primary for the United States Senate seat held by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Personal life

Angle was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon but moved to Reno, Nevada when she was 3 years old. Her father is a Navy veteran of World War II and served in the Navy Reserve during the Korean War. Angle attended public school in Reno and later obtained a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Nevada. She married her husband Ted during her senior year of college in 1970, with whom she has two children and ten grandchildren. After graduating from college, Angle worked as a substitute teacher for 25 years, ran a small Christian school for two years, and taught for five years at Western Nevada Community College. Angle subscribes to the belief system of Southern Baptist.

Political career

Nevada Assembly

Angle was elected to the Nye County School Board of Trustees in 1990, and won election to the State Assembly in 1998. She served in the Assembly until 2005. In 2003, Angle arranged a trip to an Ensenada, Baja California prison which employed an organization with affiliations to Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard, called the "Second Chance Program". Angle sponsored legislation aimed at placing this program in women's prisons in Nevada. Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley stated that Nevada lawmakers should not go on the trip arranged by Angle. "At a time when our kids might be going without books and teachers it would be impossible to justify spending money on an unproven massage, sauna and vitamin plan for prisoners. These gimmicky programs undermine successful rehabilitative programs", said Buckley. In February 2003, the office of Governor Kenny Guinn announced that Corrections Director Jackie Crawford, who had previously traveled to the prison in Mexico, would not go on the trip to the prison. Trips to the prison were privately funded by an individual named Russell Suggs, a businessman from Arizona with connections to the Church of Scientology. According to the Associated Press, Suggs did not wish for his name to be associated with funding the trip for the lawmakers to visit the Scientology-affiliated drug rehab program in Mexico. "He is approached not only by non-profits, but politicians as well. And he doesn't like his name spread around, but he would let it go if it would help me and the Second Chance Program," said Angle. The Associated Press reported that Suggs was not initially identified as the individual funding the trip for the politicians, and the AP referred to him as the "mystery donor", and noted that there would not be a public financial record of his expenditures. The Second Chance Program has been in operation at the Ensenada State Prison in Mexico since 1995, and it is licensed by the organization Criminon International. Criminon International is a sub-organization belonging to the group Narconon International. In the Second Chance Program, participants are given vitamins and minerals, in addition to massages and time spent in a sauna. A portion of the program is based on The Way to Happiness, a booklet written by L. Ron Hubbard.

The press secretary for Governor Guinn, Greg Bortolin, stated that the Governor was not interested in the Scientology-affiliated prison program promoted by Angle, noting that the Office of the Governor was "moving in another direction" with regard to drug rehabilitation models for state prisoners. The Second Chance Program was rejected in 2002 by the state of Arizona. Angle asserted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Second Chance Program's ties to Scientology were not related to her efforts to promote the organization, commenting, "I don't have any inclination toward Scientology. But when something works, you have to take a look at it." According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "The Church of Scientology touts the benefits of the Second Chance Program, which it calls Narconon, on its Web site." On February 17, 2003, Angle said she would end her efforts to have women inmates take part in the drug rehab program affiliated with Scientology. Angle stated her intention to cancel the March 1, 2003 trip funded by Suggs for politicians to travel to visit the Second Chance Program at a prison in Ensenada, Mexico. On Angle's support for the Scientology-affiliated program, the Las Vegas Sun reported in 2010, that the politician "vehemently defends the program as an innovative approach that could have changed lives in Nevada".

2006 run for U.S. Congress

On August 15, 2006 Angle narrowly lost the primary for U.S. Congress in Nevada's 2nd congressional district which was vacated by Rep. Jim Gibbons. Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller received 24,781 votes to Angle's 24,353. Gibbons' wife Dawn, a former State Assemblywoman herself, finished with 17,328 votes. On August 25, Angle called for a new primary election because of cases in Washoe County, where Angle was the strongest, where people allegedly could not initially vote because of workers who did not show up on election day. On September 1, the Carson District Judge denied Angle's appeal for a new election.

2010 run for U.S. Senate

Main article: United States Senate election in Nevada, 2010

On April 15, 2010 Angle received an endorsement for the US Senate race from the Tea Party Express at a rally in the nation's capital. On April 16, 2010 Angle received an endorsement from conservative talk radio personality Mark Levin. When asked at a Republican political mixer event held in Winnemucca, Nevada about something untrue being stated about her, Angle identified the rumor that she is affiliated with Scientology as a concern. The American Spectator reported that Angle's support of the Church of Scientology has plagued her political campaign for US Senate, resulting in media coverage focusing on her connections to the organization. During a KVBC-hosted debate on the program Face to Face with Jon Ralston with other candidates including John Chachas, Chad Christensen, Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, Angle was asked by journalist Ralston "about recent whispers that an Angle legislative proposal to explore a program of massages and sweat-boxes for Nevada prisons was a strange foray into Scientology." Angle responded, "This program had a recividism rate of less than 10 percent. They aren’t massages. ... it was more of a karate chop. The sauna was a sweat box. When you’re in there with 30 guys it’s not exactly a sauna." Angle stated that the controversy with Scientology had been "largely distorted". Publications including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and The Huffington Post analyzed the 2010 Senate campaign; both noted that Sue Lowden took out a political ad criticizing Angle for the candidate's associations with Scientology. The ad stated, Angle "pushed a bill favored by the Church of Scientology"; the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that "no bill was ever introduced". The Las Vegas Sun, however, found that Angle's website credited her with a successful bill against against psychotropic drugs in schools, and that Angle had accompanied celebrity Scientologists Jenna Elfman and Kelly Preston to promote the bill in the US Senate. References to Elfman and Preston had been recently removed from the website, but spokesman Jerry Stacy said that this happened just because of a revamp of the site. Angle herself promoted a similar bill in the Nevada Assembly, but was not successful. Regarding criticisms faced relating to Scientology, Angle told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "The way to ruin a conservative is to pass them off as part of the radical fringe. They always try to marginalize me." The New York Times cited Scientology among issues discussed, in a piece on the 2010 Nevada Senate race. In an analysis of Lowden's advertisement critical of Angle, reporter Ed Pearce of KOLO-TV noted, "The Second Chance program, as it was called, included a detox regimen which involved prisoners going cold turkey off of drugs, supposedly sweating the toxins out in a sauna-like room and getting massages to ease cramps caused by withdrawal. Essential elements of the program can be traced back to Scientology founder L.Ron Hubbard. It has been debunked by many as unproven and even dangerous." Eric Kleefeld wrote an analysis of the race for Talking Points Memo, and stated that "accusations that she has ties to the Church of Scientology", could become a possible "weakness in the race" for Angle. The Associated Press reported that Angle, "wanted female inmates to enter a drug rehabilitation program devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, an idea she still defends." The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on May 28, 2010 that a poll of citizens revealed, "Republican Sue Lowden has the best chance of defeating U.S. Sen. Harry Reid". According to the poll, Senator Harry Reid would beat Sharron Angle in a potential general election matchup.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.sharronangle.com/about.html
  2. Pappas, Alex (May 21, 2010). "All the Difference". The Daily Caller. dailycaller.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  3. ^ Myers, Laura (May 24, 2010). "Political Eye: GOP Senate race reflects gotcha game". Las Vegas Review-Journal. www.lvrj.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Vogel, Ed (February 14, 2003). "Lawmakers urged to skip trip to view prison program". Las Vegas Review-Journal. p. 7B. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  5. Neff, Erin (February 14, 2003). "Lawmakers shy away from prison project - Health experiment in Mexico has ties to Scientologists". Las Vegas Sun. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2010-04-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Vogel, Ed (February 18, 2003). "Quest for anti-drug program dies". Las Vegas Review-Journal. p. 4B.
  7. ^ Schwartz, David McGrath (April 18, 2010). "Will the Tea Party Express stop in D.C.?". Las Vegas Sun. www.lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2010-04-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Kieckhefer, Ben (Associated Press) (February 12, 2003). "Nevada Assemblywoman reveals trip sponsor". The Reno Gazette-Journal.
  9. Kieckhefer, Ben (Associated Press) (February 11, 2003). "Nevada lawmaker promotes prison program with Scientology link". San Francisco Chronicle. Internet Archive. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  10. ^ Vogel, Ed (February 15, 2003). "Scientology rehab: Guinn"s office not interested". Las Vegas Review-Journal. p. 2B. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  11. Associated Press (February 18, 2003). "Quest for Scientology-based drug program dies". KRNV.
  12. "State of Nevada 2006 Official Statewide Primary Election Results August 15, 2006".
  13. Nevada Congressional Primary Candidate Calls For New Election KRNV-4 August 28, 2006
  14. Sharron Angle Gets Tea Party Endorsement KVVU Las Vegas April 15, 2010
  15. "Mark Levin hosts Sharron Angle Friday, www.americanconservativedaily.com, April 2010.
  16. Holzel, Dee (April 30, 2010). "Candidates meet & greet at WRW mixer". Silver Pinyon Journal. silverpinyon.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  17. "Harry Dirty". The American Spectator. spectator.org. May 3, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  18. ^ Coolican, J. Patrick (May 18, 2010). "GOP Senate candidates keep it civil during TV debate". Las Vegas Sun. www.lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  19. Myers, Laura (May 19, 2010). "GOP Senate hopefuls debate who has best chance to beat Reid". Las Vegas Review-Journal. www.lvrj.com. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  20. Myers, Laura (May 21, 2010). "Angle irks some GOP insiders". Las Vegas Review-Journal. www.lvrj.com. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  21. Linkins, Jason (May 21, 2010). "Sue Lowden Turns On Sharron Angle In Nevada Primary Race". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  22. ^ McGrath Schwartz, David (May 26, 2010). "Angle campaign working to quiet Scientology question". Las Vegas Sun. www.lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  23. Evan, Lehmann (May 26, 2010). "Reid, in Fistfight, Could Take More Punches From Climate Bill". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-05-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. Pearce, Ed (May 24, 2010). "Adwatch: Lowden Attacks Angle's Record". KOLO-TV. www.kolotv.com. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  25. Kleefeld, Eric (May 27, 2010). "Sharron Angle Attacked For Alleged Scientology Ties". Talking Points Memo. TPM Media LLC. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  26. Blood, Michael R. (May 27, 2010). "Tea party candidate is Nevada hopeful on the rise". Associated Press. www.google.com. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  27. ^ Myers, Laura (May 28, 2010). "Opinion poll: Survey shows Lowden gives GOP best chance in U.S. Senate race". Las Vegas Review-Journal. www.lvrj.com. Retrieved 2010-05-28.

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