Nevada's 2nd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

that includes the northern third of the state. It includes most of Lyon County, a small portion of Lincoln County, all of Churchill,

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 Eureka often refers to: * Eureka (word), a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes * Eureka effect, the sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem Eureka or Ureka may also refer to: History * Eureka Rebellion, an 1854 g ...

Humboldt Humboldt may refer to: People * Alexander von Humboldt, German natural scientist, brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt * Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist, philosopher, and diplomat, brother of Alexander von Humboldt Fictional characters * Hu ...

, Lander,

Pershing Pershing may refer to: Military * John J. Pershing (1860–1948), U.S. General of the Armies ** MGM-31 Pershing, U.S. ballistic missile system ** Pershing II Weapon System, U.S. ballistic missile ** M26 Pershing, U.S. tank ** Pershing boot, a type ...

Storey A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth 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 wor ...

, Washoe, and

White Pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

counties, as well as the state capital,

Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, 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 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...

. 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. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, 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 Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statis ...

alone, totaling about two-thirds of the district's population. It is the richest congressional district in the state of Nevada. With a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, com ...

rating of R+7, it is the only Republican-leaning congressional district in Nevada.

Political history

The district was initially created after the redistricting cycle after the

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

, when Nevada was split into districts for the first time. From then until 2013, it occupied all of the state outside of

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *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'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

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 ...

, the district has historically voted Republican;

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

won the district by 20 points in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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 60 ...

. However, in the 2008 election

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the district. On April 21, 2011,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

John Ensign John Eric Ensign (born March 25, 1958) is an American veterinarian and former politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 2001 until his resignation in 2011 amid a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his attempts to ...

(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 ...

, 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 representing Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 15th secretary of state of Nevada ...

, 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 United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district since 2011. The only Republican Party (United Stat ...

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 ...

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST32/CD118_NV02.pdf
/ref> Churchill County (2) : Fallon, Fallon Station Douglas County (21) : All 21 communities Elko County (12) : All 12 communities Eureka County (2) :

Crescent Valley Crescent Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Eureka County, Nevada, United States, directly off Nevada State Route 306. It is the site of Crescent Valley Elementary School, Crescent Valley Fair Grounds, and Crescent Valley Community Pa ...

Humboldt County (8) : All 8 communities

Independent cities An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

(1) :

Lander County (3) : All 3 communities Lincoln County (0) : Contains unincorporated area of Lincoln County Lyon County (7) :

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, Fernley, Silver City, Silver Springs,

Smith Valley Smith Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 1,603 at the 2010 census. Geography and name Smith Valley is located in southwestern Lyon County at (38.819204, -119.355912), occupying ...

(part; also

4th 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'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

Yerington Yerington is a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,121 at the 2020 census. It is the current county seat of Lyon County, with the first county seat having been established at Dayton on November 29, 1861. It is nam ...

Pershing County (6) : All 6 communities Storey County (5) : All 5 communities Washoe County (17) : All 17 communities White Pine County (6) : All 6 communities

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

2024

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