The 2008 congressional elections in Nevada were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, coinciding with the presidential election. The election coincided with the

2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served 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 ...

from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. Nevada had three seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

. Its 2007–2008 congressional delegation consisted of two Republicans and one

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. After the election, it consisted of one Republican and two Democrats, with District 3 changing from Republican to Democratic. ''CQ Politics'' had forecasted districts 2 and 3 to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

Overview

District 1

This district covered most of the City of Las Vegas, as well as parts of

North Las Vegas North Las Vegas is a suburban city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 216,961, with an estimated population of 251,974 in 2019. The city was incorporated on May 1, 19 ...

and parts of unincorporated Clark County. In the general election, 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 ...

defeated Republican Kenneth Wegner, a

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

veteran and part-time Bail Enforcement Agent.

District 2

This district covered all of

except for parts of Clark County.

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 the c ...

, along with surrounding Washoe County, casts about 70% of the district's vote. The 2nd District had been represented by Republicans continuously since its creation, and had been represented by Republican

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 ...

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 ...

since 2007. He defeated Democrat

Jill Derby Jill Talbot Derby served from 1988 to 2006 as an elected Regent for the Nevada System of Higher Education, serving three terms as Board Chair. She ran as the Democratic candidate for the open seat of Nevada's 2nd congressional district in the 20 ...

of Gardnerville, a former

Nevada System of Higher Education The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE, formerly the University and Community College System of Nevada or "UCCSN") is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to ove ...

Regent and Chair of the Nevada Democratic Party. Heller had previously defeated Derby in the 2006 election, although this time the margin of victory was 10.4%, as opposed to just 5% two years before.

District 3

This district covered the suburbs of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, including

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, parts of North Las Vegas and Summerlin, and much of unincorporated Clark County. Incumbent Republican

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 ...

Boulder City Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of on ...

campaign website
was considered to be at risk due to the increasingly Democratic electorate in the 3rd District. Porter lost re-election to the Democratic nominee,

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 ...

Minority Leader

Dina Titus Alice Costandina Titus (born May 23, 1950) is an American political scientist and politician who has been the United States representative for since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by Joe ...

of Las Vegas
campaign website
. He was also challenged by Bob Giaquinta of the Green Party
campaign website
, Floyd Fitzgibbons of the Independent American Party, Joseph P. Silvestri of the Libertarian Party
campaign website
, and independent Jeffrey C. Reeves
campaign website
. CQ Politics had forecasted the race as 'No Clear Favorite'. Porter had represented the district since its creation in 2003, but he faced a tough race: he won by only 48% to 46% in 2006 against a former aide to U.S. Senate Majority Leader

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 ...

, and won by 54% in 2004. George W. Bush barely won this district with 50% to 49% for John Kerry in 2004 (

CPVI The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a List of United States congressional districts, United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic Party (United Sta ...

=D+1). Leading Democratic candidates included Fraud Examiner Andrew Martin and Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, but Daskas dropped out in late April, citing family concerns. After losing their top candidate, the Democratic Party quickly recruited Titus.Top Democratic House challenger drops out
Martin Kandy II. Politico.com ''The Crypt''. April 28, 2008.

References

External links

Election Center
from the ''Nevada Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for Nevada
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Nevada U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Nevada congressional races
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

{{2008 United States elections

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