Nevada's 2nd congressional district is a
congressional district
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...
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 ...
,
Elko,
Eureka,
Humboldt,
Lander
Lander may refer to:
Media and entertainment
* ''Lander'' (computer game), computer game published by Psygnosis in 1999
* ''Lander'' (game demo), the 3D game demo provided with the Acorn Archimedes computer
* Lander (Transformers), a fiction ...
,
Pershing,
Storey
A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US).
T ...
, and
Washoe counties, as well as the state capital,
Carson City
Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on th ...
. The largest city in the district is
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...
, 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, 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 pre ...
, the district has historically voted Republican;
George W. Bush 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 S ...
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 ...
. 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 ...
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 te ...
earned only 88 votes more (out of 335,720 votes) than
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
in the district.
Former state Senator
Mark Amodei
Mark Eugene Amodei ( ; born June 12, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district since 2011. The only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation since 2019, Amodei ...
has held the seat since 2011 after he won the special election to replace
Dean Heller
Dean Arthur Heller (born May 10, 1960) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator for Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 15th secretary of state of Nevada from 1995 ...
, who was appointed to 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 po ...
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 power ...
John Ensign (R-Nev.), plagued by scandal and facing an inquiry by the
Senate Ethics Committee, 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
Dean Arthur Heller (born May 10, 1960) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator for Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 15th secretary of state of Nevada from 1995 ...
, 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
Mark Eugene Amodei ( ; born June 12, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district since 2011. The only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation since 2019, 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 races
Presidential 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
See also
*Nevada's congressional districts
Nevada is divided into four congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives. After the 2010 United States Census, 2010 Census, Nevada gained a fourth House seat.
Current (until 2023 inauguratio ...
*List of United States congressional districts
Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, wit ...
Notes
References
*
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
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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