The 2022 Nevada Congressional Election: A Review

As the 2022 midterm results for the United States House of Representatives were being tallied, it became evident that dozens of races were going down to the wire. In Nevada, there were three competitive US House races; because of the Democratic controlled legislature’s decision to draw a Democratic gerrymander, it put the party at risk of being wiped out at the congressional level, much to the chagrin of some of the state’s congressional delegation.

However, gerrymander worked as expected, as Democratic representatives narrowly maintained their congressional advantage against their Republican challengers, despite Republicans winning the state’s House vote. This article will only focus on the state’s three competitive districts.

Nevada election results

District	Republican	Democrat	Third Party	Total	Republican	Democrat
1	103,115	115,700	5,534	224,349	45.96%	51.57%
2	185,467	117,371	7,660	310,498	59.73%	37.80%
3	121,083	131,086	0	252,169	48.02%	51.98%
4	105,870	115,617	0	221,487	47.80%	52.20%
Total	515,535	479,774	13,194	1,008,503	51.12%	47.57%
Margin	R +35,761				R +3.55%

Nevada Congressional District 1

The 1^st Congressional district of Nevada is located entirely within Clark County. Before the redistricting in 2022, it was the most Democratic leaning of all of Nevada’s Congressional districts. The new version of the 1^st remains the most Democratic-leaning of the state’s districts. By registration, Democrats held an advantage of over 58,000 registered voters. However, the largest group in the district are the third party and unaffiliated voters.

NV-01 party registration

County	Republicans	R %	Democrats	D %	Third Party	Total
Clark	137,863	25.02%	195,904	35.55%	217,270	551,037
Total	137,863	25.02%	195,904	35.55%	217,270	551,037
Margin			D +58,041	D +10.53%

In the Republican primary for the 1^st district, Mark Robertson emerged victorious from an eight-candidate primary field with only 12,375 votes (30.08%). In the Democratic primary, incumbent Democrat Dina Titus ran for re-election and attracted a progressive primary challenger in Amy Vilela: Titus won with 33,565 votes (79.83%) against Vilela’s 8,482 (20.17%).

NV-01 election

County	Robertson	Robertson %	Titus	Titus %	Third Party	Total
Clark	103,115	45.96%	115,700	51.57%	5,534	224,349
Total	103,115	45.96%	115,700	51.57%	5,534	224,349
Margin			D +12,585	D +5.61%

In the general election, Titus won narrowly over Robertson. Turnout dropped dramatically from 2020, allowing the race to be closer than what might normally be expected from the district. Titus only won by a margin of 12,585 votes, or 5.6%).

Nevada Congressional District 3    

The 3^rd congressional district of Nevada is located entirely within Clark County, sitting in the western portion of the county. The district in 2022 was a battleground district, as Republicans had a decent chance of flipping it in that election year. Democrats had a modest voter registration edge overall in the district; they outnumbered registered Republicans at the time of the election by almost 35,000 voters, while third party and unaffiliated voters comprised the largest group in the district.

NV-03 party registration

County	Republicans	R%	Democrats	D%	Third Party	Total
Clark	154,532	27.14%	189,531	33.29%	225,258	569,321
Total	154,532	27.14%	189,531	33.29%	225,258	569,321
Margin			D +34,999	D +6.15%

In the Republican primary, April Becker emerged victorious from her primary with 28,260 votes (64.86%), while the other Republican candidates in the primary combined for 15,311 votes (35.14%). Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic representative Susie Lee, secured 37,069 votes (89.68%), while her primary challenger Randell Hynes garnered 4,265 votes (10.32%).

NV-03 election

County	Becker	Becker%	Lee	Lee%	Total
Clark	121,083	48.02%	131,086	51.98%	252,169
Total	121,083	48.02%	131,086	51.98%	252,169
Margin			D +27,971	D +3.96%

In the general election, incumbent Democrat Lee won her re-election bid over Becker. As with the 1^st district, Democratic turnout in the 2022 midterm in Nevada’s 2^nd congressional district dropped. This could likely could be attributed to two things: the midterm election environment that slightly favored Republicans, and the typical turnout dynamic in which turnout by the party in control of the White House drops. Republican turnout also dropped as well, but not as much as on the Democratic side; it was enough to make the race close. Lee won the district by 27,971 votes, a margin of 3.96%, and this seat will likely be a top Republican target in 2024.

Nevada Congressional District 4

The 4^th Congressional district of Nevada is in the central part of the state and includes portions of Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral and Nye counties, with northern Clark County making up most of the district’s voters. Democrats had a large voter registration edge in the district of of over 55,000 voters, but unaffiliated and 3^rd party voters comprised the largest group within.

NV-04 party registration

County	Republicans	R%	Democrats	D%	Third Party	Total
Clark	118,131	23.84%	186,314	37.59%	191,170	495,615
Esmeralda	365	57.21%	63	9.87%	210	638
Lincoln	2,083	63.18%	405	12.28%	809	3,297
Lyon	179	63.03%	33	11.62%	72	284
Mineral	1,365	38.28%	809	22.69%	1,392	3,566
Nye	18,059	43.62%	7,642	18.46%	15,703	41,404
Total	140,182	25.73%	195,266	35.84%	209,356	544,804
Margin			D +55,084	D +10.11%

In the primaries for the 4^th Congressional District, incumbent Democratic representative Steven Horsford went unopposed in the Democratic primary, automatically advancing to the general election. In the Republican primary, Sam Peters won with 20,956 votes (47.68%) against Ann Black, who garnered 18,249 votes (41.52%), and Chance Bonaventura, who recorded 4,748 votes (10.80%). Both Horsford and Peters advanced to the general election.

NV-04 result

County	Peters	Peters	Horsford	Horsford%	Total
Clark	87,988	44.62%	109,220	55.38%	197,208
Esmeralda	364	83.30%	73	16.70%	437
Lincoln	1,799	84.34%	334	15.66%	2,133
Lyon	157	80.93%	37	19.07%	194
Mineral	1,185	63.61%	678	36.39%	1,863
Nye	14,377	69.62%	6,275	30.38%	20,652
Total	105,870	47.58%	116,617	52.42%	222,487
Margin			D +10,747	D +4.84%

In the general election, Horsford won re-election against Peters. He was able to do this by building up a firewall in Clark County of 21,232 votes, far more than the 10,485 vote lead Peters secured in the other counties in the district. Horsford’s resounding margin in Clark County alone was enough to secure a 10,747 vote victory, a margin of 4.8%.