Heller Sworn Into Senate

Politico reports:

Republican Dean Heller of Nevada was sworn into the Senate Monday by Vice President Joe Biden, replacing embattled Sen. John Ensign who resigned last week over a sex scandal involving a former aid.

Heller was joined at the dais by Majority Leader Harry Reid, the senior senator from Nevada, as Biden administered the oath of office.

Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Heller to the vacant seat. The new senator had been serving his third term in the House and was the Silver State’s secretary of state from 1994 to 2006.

“Every time we have a peaceful transfer of power – at any level of our government – it speaks to the strength of our democracy. Today is no different,” Reid said on the floor moments after Heller officially took office. “Today Nevada welcomes our new appointed senator, Dean Heller, to this side of the Capitol. Nevada is still reeling, more than most, from the Wall Street recession that crashed our housing and jobs markets. I look forward to working with our new junior senator to make the tough choices that will help our state and our citizens recover.”