Nevada Democratic Reps. win re-election, erasing predicted ‘red wave’

Democratic Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford and Republican Rep. Mark Amodei defeated their opponents in the 2022 midterms.

On Sunday, Titus was leading her Republican opponent Mark Robertson 51.4 percent of votes to his 46.1 percent, Horsford was leading his opponent Sam Peters 52.3 percent to 47.7 percent, and Lee was leading her opponent April Becker 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent.

“Voters sent a message loud and clear: They want someone in their corner who never backs down from a fight,” Titus said in a statement. “We always knew this would be a tough race and I am so grateful to all who volunteered, contributed, and dedicated their time to this race. I am humbled to have your support, and I promise to continue delivering for all Southern Nevadans.”

“I am eager to continue to serve every single one of my constituents, and I will always put people over partisanship,” Lee said in a statement.

“Nevada’s Fourth District proves it once again: the winning path for Democrats is to build a working class, multi-racial, multi-generational coalition. That is who our party fights for. That is who we stand for,” Horsford said in a statement.

On Election Night, The Associated Press called the second congressional district race in favor of Amodei, who won easily over Democrat Elizabeth Mercedes Krause.

The results vindicate a controversial decision by Democrats in the 2021 Legislature to redraw maps to distribute more voters from the safe 1st Congressional District to shore up the 3rd and 4th Districts. The plans — which passed the Legislature and were signed into law by incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak — drew strenuous objections from Titus, who fretted that her party had traded two relatively safe seats for three swing districts.

Robertson conceded defeat in an interview with the Review-Journal on Friday.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” he said. “Hundreds of supporters and volunteers worked so hard. It’s not the outcome that we would have hoped for but I do respect the will of the people. That’s how our democracy works. We get to pick who our representatives are.”

Robertson said he wished Titus well and hopes she represents the people in the 1st District.

Becker also conceded in her race over the weekend.

“While I am disappointed with the outcome of the election, I am beyond proud of our campaign, our volunteers, and the individuals that stepped up and asked for change,” Becker said on Twitter on Sunday. “It’s clear Nevadans spoke out for a new direction, and I will continue to work hard for the people of our state.”

Although polls showed Titus and Lee behind their Republican opponents at times, the results supported the Democratic theory that all three districts were winnable, even in a year when Democrats faced headwinds from the economy to a poor approval rating from the national head of their party, President Joe Biden.

The outcome of the four races in Nevada doesn’t directly affect which party will control Congress since none of the four seats changed hands.

As of Sunday, the count in the race for control of the U.S. House stood at 214 for the Republican Party and 210 for the Democratic Party, according to the New York Times. A total of 218 seats is needed to win control of the chamber.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on Twitter.