Updated: 4:05 p.m.

Nevada state Treasurer Kate Marshall (D) announced Wednesday she is running in the 2nd district special election.

“Nevadans deserve a voice in Congress that will fight for middle class families, and that’s what I intend to do. I’ll work every day to create jobs in northern Nevada and win the fight to control runaway spending in Washington,” Marshall said in a statement.

Marshall has Democratic company in the free-for-all contest to replace Rep. Dean Heller (R), who is expected to resign his seat in the coming days and then be sworn in Monday to fill the remaining term of former Sen. John Ensign (R). Jill Derby, a Democrat who lost to Heller in 2006 and 2008, told the Associated Press she was planning to run again.

Elected twice statewide, Marshall enters the race with the strongest résumé and could compete in a race where several Republicans split the vote. However, with Derby, along with 2010 nominee Nancy Price, also in the race, capturing the GOP seat would be far more difficult.

On the Republican side, failed 2010 Senate candidate Sharron Angle, retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold and state Sen. Greg Brower are already running. State GOP Chairman Mark Amodei and Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki are also strongly considering entering the race.

A resident of Reno, Marshall previously served in the Department of Justice and was senior deputy attorney general for Nevada.

The National Republican Congressional Committee immediately questioned Marshall’s record as treasurer. “With such a history of mismanaging hard-earned taxpayer dollars, Nevada families can only expect more of the same negligence if Kate Marshall joins her fellow Democrats in Washington,” NRCC spokesman Tyler Houlton said in a statement.

Sandoval announced he intends for the special to be held Sept. 13, and Secretary of State Ross Miller subsequently announced that any qualified candidate will be allowed to run. With no primary, the state Republican Party had argued that candidates could run only as a member of the two major parties if selected by the state central committees. The Nevada GOP is leaving open the possibility of challenging Miller’s interpretation of the law in court.