Alice Costandina "Dina" Titus ( ; born May 23, 1950) is an American political scientist and politician who has been the

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by

Joe Heck Joseph John Heck (born October 30, 1961) is an American physician and politician who served as the United States representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2017. Heck is a United States Army major general and a board-cer ...

. Titus is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. She served in the

Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the previ ...

and was its minority leader from 1993 to 2009. Before her election to Congress, Titus was a professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

(UNLV), where she taught American and Nevada government for 30 years. She was the Democratic nominee for

governor of Nevada A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Early life and education

Titus was born in

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany, Georgia, Albany. The city deems itself the "C ...

. Her mother is of Greek descent, and she was raised Greek Orthodox. She grew up in

Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Ag ...

. Her first exposure to politics came at an early age, when her father Joe ran for the Tifton City Council. Her uncle, Theo Titus, served in the Georgia House of Representatives for many years. She attended a summer program at

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

and was admitted full-time for the fall without a high school diploma. There she earned her bachelor's degree in political science. Titus went on to earn a master's degree from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and a Ph.D. from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

Academic career

After a year teaching at

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

, Titus moved to Nevada for a faculty position in the political science department at the

(UNLV).

Nevada Senate

First elected in 1988, Titus served for 20 years in the

, representing the 7th district. In December 2010,

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

appointed her to a six-year term on the

United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility for ...

. Titus authored a bill banning " universal default clauses" that have enabled some credit card issuers to boost interest rates by 30% or more. The bill passed the Senate and Assembly, but was vetoed by Gibbons. Credit card providers Citibank and Chase rolled back or eliminated universal default clauses due to political pressure in the U.S. Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

Democrats were heavily targeting 3rd district Republican incumbent

Jon Porter Jonathan Christopher "Jon" Porter (born May 16, 1955) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, the first representative elected from the 3rd Congressional District of Nevada. He ...

. Their top candidate was Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, but Daskas dropped out in April for family reasons. Democrats then recruited Titus, who had won the district in her unsuccessful 2006 run for governor. Titus defeated Porter in November, 47% to 42%, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district. She was a major beneficiary of the overall anti-Bush sentiment in the Las Vegas area. She was elected Regional Whip in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

2010

Republican former State Senator

defeated Titus by less than 2,000 votes.

2012

On October 31, 2011, Titus entered the Democratic primary for , where her home had been placed by redistricting. The incumbent, Democrat

Shelley Berkley Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley (née Levine; born January 20, 1951) is an American businesswoman, politician and attorney who served as U.S. Representative for from 1999 to 2013. In 2012, she was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate. She is ...

, gave up the seat to run for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. While the 3rd is considered a swing district, the 1st is far and away Nevada's safest Democratic seat. Titus initially faced a challenge from State Senator

Ruben Kihuen Rubén Jesús Kihuen Bernal (; born April 25, 1980) is an American politician and former member of the United States House of Representatives for , serving from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was a member of the ...

in the primary. Kihuen dropped out in February 2012, reportedly due to trailing in polls and fundraising. This all but assured Titus's return to Congress after a two-year absence. She easily defeated her Republican challenger, Chris Edwards.

2014

Titus was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Annette Teijeiro with 56.9% of the vote. After this election, she became the only Democratic member of Nevada's U.S. House delegation, as fellow Democrat

Steven Horsford Steven Alexzander Horsford (born April 29, 1973) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 4th congressional district since 2019, previously holding the position from 2013 to 2015. A member of the ...

was defeated.

2016

Titus defeated Republican nominee Mary D. Perry with 61.9% of the vote to Perry's 28.8%; independent Reuben D'Silva received 7.4%. This election saw Democrats pick up two U.S. House seats in Nevada.

2018

Titus defeated Republican nominee Joyce Bentley with 66.2% of the vote, her highest percentage to date.

2020

Titus won a rematch with Bentley, this time with 61.8% of the vote to Bentley's 33.4%.

2022

Titus was redistricted into a much more competitive district. She faced progressive Amy Vilela in the Democratic primary, winning with 79.8% of the vote; in the general election, Titus defeated Republican nominee Mark Robertson, 51.6% to 46.0%. Most poll aggregators rated the race a tossup.

Tenure

On December 18, 2019, Titus voted for both articles of impeachment against President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Titus voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the

117th Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

, according to a ''

FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...

'' analysis.

Committee assignments

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

(2009–2011; 2013–present) ** Subcommittee on Aviation ** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit ** Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment **

Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

(chair) * Committee on Foreign Affairs (2017–present) ** Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific ** Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade

Past

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

(2009–2011) * Committee on Homeland Security (2009–2011) * Committee on Veterans' Affairs (2013–2017) **

Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs The United States Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs is one of the four subcommittees within the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Jurisdiction From the House Rules: *''Subcommittee on Disability Assistan ...

(Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

Caucus memberships

Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...

United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advanc ...

* U.S.-Japan Caucus * Congressional Hellenic Caucus *

Medicare for All Caucus The Medicare for All Caucus is a congressional caucus in the United States House of Representatives, consisting of members that advocate for the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system. It was announced by progressive members of the H ...

* Blue Collar Caucus * Americans Abroad Caucus (co-chair)

Political positions

Abortion

In 2014 Titus received a 100% rating from

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

for opposing a nationwide abortion ban after 20 weeks and supporting abortion access in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and through the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

Armenia–Azerbaijan war

In September 2020, Titus started a successful petition to rename a

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

heading from "Armenian massacres" to "Armenian genocide" in the wake of

Armenian genocide recognition Armenian genocide recognition is the formal acceptance that the systematic massacres and forced deportation of Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, during and after the First World War, constituted genocide. Most hist ...

by the United States Congress in 2019. On October 1, 2020, Titus co-signed a letter to Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

that condemned

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

's offensive operations against the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

-populated enclave of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...

, denounced

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

's role in the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...

, and called for an immediate ceasefire.

Redistricting

On December 16, 2021, Titus expressed her frustration with the process of redrawing Nevada's congressional districts to make them more electorally competitive. According to the

Nevada Current States Newsroom is a U.S. tax-exempt organization that serves as an umbrella organization for state-focused news outlets with progressive editorial outlooks. Launched in 2019, it began as a sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-leaning ...

, she told an AFL-CIO town hall, "I totally got fucked by the legislature on my district." She added, "I'm sorry to say it like that, but I don't know any other way to say it." Democrats who control the state legislature in Nevada

gerrymandered In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

districts to make two swing districts stronger for Democrats. She warned that three safe seats are now in danger and at risk of turning Republican in the 2022 election.

Voting rights

On February 9, 2023, Titus voted against H.J.Res. 24: Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 which condemns the District of Columbia's plan that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.

Syria

In 2023, Titus voted against H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

within 180 days.

Political campaigns

2006

Incumbent

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Kenny Guinn Kenneth Carroll Guinn (August 24, 1936 – July 22, 2010), was an American academic administrator, businessman and politician who served as the 27th Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007 and interim president of the University of Nevada, Las Vega ...

could not run in 2006 due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. Titus won the Democratic nomination, but lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Congressman Jim Gibbons. Titus won Clark County, but her margin there was not enough to overcome Gibbons's landslide margin in the 2nd district.

Personal life

Titus has been married to Thomas C. Wright since 1979. Wright is a retired professor of history at UNLV. His studies in

Latin American history The term ''Latin America'' primarily refers to the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the New World. Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, a number of ...

have taken the couple on extended journeys throughout Central and South America and to Spain. She is

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

Bibliography

Titus is the author of ''Bombs in the Backyard: Atomic Testing and American Politics'' and ''Battle Born: Federal-State Relations in Nevada During the Twentieth Century''.

References

External links

Congresswoman Dina Titus
official U.S. House website
Dina Titus for Congress
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Titus, Dina 1950 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American people of Greek descent American women political scientists American political scientists College of William & Mary alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada Eastern Orthodox Christians from the United States Female members of the United States House of Representatives Florida State University alumni Living people Democratic Party Nevada state senators Politicians from Carson City, Nevada Politicians from Las Vegas People from Thomasville, Georgia People from Tifton, Georgia United States Commission on Civil Rights members University of Georgia alumni University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty University of North Texas faculty Women state legislators in Nevada Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States Eastern Orthodox Christians from Nevada