Nevada's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district that includes the northern third of the state. It includes most of Lyon County, all of

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt,

Lander Lander may refer to: Media and entertainment * Lander (computer game), ''Lander'' (computer game), computer game published by Psygnosis in 1999 * Lander (game demo), ''Lander'' (game demo), the 3D game demo provided with the Acorn Archimedes co ...

, Pershing,

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, and Washoe counties, as well as the state capital,

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

. The largest city in the district is Reno, the state's third largest city. Although the district appears rural, its politics are dominated by Reno and Carson City. As of 2017, over 460,000 people reside in Washoe County alone, totaling about two-thirds of the district's population. The district was initially created after the redistricting cycle after the

1980 Census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...

, when Nevada was split into districts for the first time. From then until 2013, it occupied all of the state outside of Clark County. From 1993 to 2013, it also included the far northern portion of Clark County. Until 2013, it was the third-largest congressional district by land area that did not cover an entire state. Even though it lost much of its southern portion to the new

4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

after the 2010 census, it is still the fifth-largest district in the nation that does not cover an entire state. The 2nd district has always leaned Republican. It has been represented by only four people since its creation, all Republicans. Democrats have only made four serious bids for the seat. In

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

, the district has historically voted Republican;

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

won the district by 20 points in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and 16 points in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. However, in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

earned only 88 votes more (out of 335,720 votes) than Barack Obama in the district. Former state Senator Mark Amodei has held the seat since 2011 after he won the special election to replace Dean Heller, who was appointed to the United States Senate following the resignation of John Ensign.

2011 special election

On April 21, 2011,

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

John Ensign (R-Nev.), plagued by scandal and facing an inquiry by the

Senate Ethics Committee The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee. Senate rules require the ...

, announced his resignation effective May 3. On April 27, Governor

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

announced he would appoint Dean Heller, the 2nd district's third-term congressman, to fill out Ensign's term in the Senate. Heller had already planned to run for the seat after Ensign announced a month earlier that he would not run for a third term. To fill the vacancy created by Heller's resignation on May 9, Sandoval was required to call a special election to be held within six months of the occurrence of the vacancy. A special election was held on September 13, 2011. Former Republican state senator Mark Amodei defeated Democratic State Treasurer

Kate Marshall Kathleen Marie Marshall (née Soltero; born July 22, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 35th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party and was previously the Nevada state tre ...

Voting

Election results from presidential and statewide racesPresidential Election Results, by district
swingstateproject.com

List of members representing the district

Election results

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2011 (special)

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Historical district boundaries

Notes

References

*
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{coord, 40, 39, 04, N, 117, 19, 47, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 02 Congressional district, 02 Lyon County, Nevada Douglas County, Nevada Elko County, Nevada Eureka County, Nevada Humboldt County, Nevada Lander County, Nevada Pershing County, Nevada Storey County, Nevada Washoe County, Nevada Carson City, Nevada Churchill County, Nevada Constituencies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Nevada