PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—In a story about Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's out-of-wedlock baby, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Dan Gross spoke with one of The Governator's 2003 opponents, former porn star Mary Carey, one of whose platform planks was that she'd set up a webcam in the governor's mansion and charge a subscription fee (proceeds of which would go to the state's treasury) for anyone in the world with online access to watch her bedroom activities. And this in a day when the country's economy was fairly flush!
"We're in such a fiscal crisis and if Arnold can't be honest to his wife of 25 years, how can we trust him to have been honest to the citizens of California?" Gross reported Carey, an "honorary Philadelphian," as saying, adding, that, "Carey, 30, is mulling a bid for the White House in 2016. She'll have to skip the 2012 presidential election because she is too young."
This reminded us that in 2003, in a field of over 100 gubernatorial candidates, Carey placed 10th in results ... and Larry Flynt, running as a Democrat, did even better, placing 7th. Admittedly, each got less than 1 percent of the total vote, but times have changed, and it started us thinking...
Remember John Ensign? He used to be a U.S. senator from Nevada until he resigned earlier in the month after Special Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics Carol Elder Bruce filed her "Report of the Preliminary Inquiry Into the Matter of Senator John E. Ensign," which found, among other things, that Ensign had indeed had an ongoing sexual relationship with his staffer Cynthia Hansen, and that he had paid both her and her husband tens of thousands of dollars—some "laundered" through Ensign's parents—to shut them up about it, all in violation of federal laws.
Of course, Ensign's resignation left a hole in Nevada's representation, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (who attained the office following the scandal-ridden tenure of Jim Gibbons) appointed existing Nevada 2nd District Rep. Dean Heller to replace him.
But Heller's appointment left a gap in Nevada's congressional representation, and a special election is scheduled for September 13 to replace him ... but with whom?
According to an article on the DailyKos website, although several well-known Republican names are vying for the seat, including former Ensign opponent Sharron Angle, "the special election ballot for the 2nd Congressional District will be open to all candidates and not just nominees selected by the state’s political party... There won't be any filing fee for this race, so every nutjob is free to join in the fun. And as long as Sharron Angle is among those nutjobs, then fun it shall be."
Now, the Nevada 2nd is one big-ass district. It includes pretty much all of the state except the tiny portion that includes Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Laughlin ... and as it turns out, several adult industry personalities live in Nevada, though we're not sure if all of them reside in the 2nd.
First and foremost, there's Dennis Hof, proprietor of the Moonlite Bunnyranch and star of the HBO series Cathouse. Hof's an incredibly astute businessman—who else could get HBO to film a series based in an actual brothel featuring actual prostitutes and their customers?—and his in-house publicist, Harry Weiss, is an adult video veteran, having worked for several production and distribution companies in the Los Angeles area before moving to northern Nevada.
Other adult industry members and former members who reportedly live in Nevada and may or may not be eligible for a run in the 2nd include former movie star Katie Morgan, who has a series of HBO specials of her own; former actress and Las Vegas bar owner Christi Lake, former actress Cheyenne Silver, and current performers Cytherea, Teagan Presley and Joshua.
There are probably several more adult industry members that may be eligible for Heller's seat, and all we can say is, it'd be nice to see at least one person with ties to, and respect for, the adult entertainment industry opposing Nevada's largely Republican power structure entering this important ballot battle.
