Sharron Angle’s loss to Congressman Joe Heck in Nevada’s Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday marked her second failed bid to win a seat to the nation’s upper legislative chamber (also losing to Harry Reid in 2010’s general election). Angle lost by 42.1 points in a second place finish with 22.8 percent of the vote in a nine-candidate field. It was the 37th attempt by a major party candidate in the state to make another run at a U.S. Senate seat after a failed bid – and the 30th loss. The only candidates to win on subsequent bids were Democrats Key Pittman (in 1912), Pat McCarran (1932), Alan Bible (1954), and Harry Reid (1986) and Republicans George Malone (1946), Paul Laxalt (1974), and John Ensign (2000). Also losing on their fourth attempts at a Senate seat on Tuesday were little-known Republicans Eddie Hamilton who finished fourth (with 1.8 percent) and Carlo Poliak who placed ninth (0.2 percent).

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