This incumbent took one for the team in 2020 redistricting. She traded away safe areas for more marginal turf to protect the other two incumbents in Nevada. Now, she will face the first seriously contested election since the 2010 red wave. Something seems to be percolating in the state, and it may not be pretty for us. That is why it is imperative to support Rep. Dina Titus in her re-election to Nevada’s 1st district!
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Dina Titus for Nevada-1!
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Candidate Background
Rep. Dina Titus has been a politician for a very long time, first coming to prominence in the Nevada State Senate and then running for various offices ever since. There is more to her biography than this, but I found it difficult to condense it down. She’s lived a long and rich life.
- Titus graduated from the College of William & Mary with a bachelor’s in political science. She also has a master’s from the University of Georgia and a PhD from Florida State University. She was a professor at UNLV until her retirement in 2011.
- Titus was the Minority Leader in the Nevada State Senate from 1993 to 2009.. She also ran for the governor in 2006, but fell short of winning that race to Rep. Jim Gibbons who destroyed her outside the Las Vegas metro area.
- Titus was elected to the House in 2008 to Nevada’s 3rd district after beating an incumbent. She was washed out by the 2010 red wave, serving a single term before winning the 1st district in 2012 when a different incumbent gave up that seat.
Signature Issues
This section was difficult to write, mainly because she doesn’t have an issues page on her website. I had to rely on her background and other sources (like her official House site) to get this section written.
Titus is slightly right of center in the Democratic caucus. She has a DW Nominate score of -0.304, which indicates a progressive record with a pragmatic streak. She is more liberal than 63% of the entire House membership, while also being 72% more moderate than her Democratic peers. She votes for Joe Biden’s agenda nearly 100% of the time.
Education: As a college professor, she knows that higher education costs are spiraling out of control. She supports full funding for K-12 education and making sure that the arts are not cut because of a focus on STEM and testable subjects.
The Environment: Like many Nevada politicians, she opposes the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility that has been proposed. She also takes climate change threats seriously, as Las Vegas is in the desert and is in the middle of a mega-drought. Just look at Lake Mead images right now!
Gun Violence: The worst mass shooting in US History took place in this district, so it is natural that Titus would make gun violence a priority. She has co-sponsored many pieces of legislation to combat the scourge of guns, including comprehensive background checks and an assault weapons ban.
Elections History
Recent Elections —
2020 President: Joe Biden (D) 53.2%, TFG (R-inc) 44.7%
2020 House: Dina Titus (D-inc) 61.8%, Joyce Bentley (R) 33.4%
2022 PVI: D+3
2022 Race Rating: Leans Democratic
This district traditionally has been focused on the core of Las Vegas. It has been that way ever since Nevada started growing gangbusters and gained their second district a few decades back. The Las Vegas district usually leaned Democratic, while the rest of the state leaned Republican. The math got complicated when Nevada gained its 3rd and 4th districts, but it held true for the last decade.
What is new is that this district has abandoned parts of very blue Las Vegas and travelled out to the redder parts of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. This was done to try and shore up the other two Democratic incumbents in the 3rd and 4th districts. This could of course blow up in our face and allow the GQP to sweep all three districts, but I feel that we should be favored in two of them.
Rep. Dina Titus has been in Congress before, and was drummed out by the 2010 red wave. The previous representative, Rep. Shelley Berkley, decided to run for Senate in 2012, and that opened up the 1st district. Titus easily won the primary and general election. She didn’t face any serious races in the 2010s, as this district was very secure.
Political Tour of the District
This district in theory should stick with the Democratic Party. However, something is happening in Nevada that makes me believe that weakening this district was a huge mistake. I guess we shall see whether this was a wise decision in a couple of weeks!
Here’s where this race will be won in the 1st district.
- Las Vegas: There are still quite a few precincts of the city left in this district, and all of them are the bluer areas of the city. It is critical that Titus get out as many votes as possible amongst the casino workers and other denizens of the city to offset other parts of the district.
- Inner Suburbs: The suburbs closer to Las Vegas are also fairly blue, and they will hopefully remain that way for Titus. It is critical for Titus to court these voters, as the transience of the metro area means she is new to many of the voters here.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Henderson: TFG won this important city by a small margin, and it is important that Titus keep this large suburb of Las Vegas as close to 50-50 as possible. This suburb could sink her campaign, or it could confirm her victory. It is that critical to her chances.
- Boulder City and the Rural Areas: The bottom sections of the district are quite red, and Titus cannot expect very many votes from these areas. There are enough voters here to tip the balance against her, so it is important to maintain the Biden margins here as well.
Activism — Help How You Can!
Rep. Dina Titus has been fundraising like this will be a seriously contested race. This comes hot on the heels of a $693k 2nd quarter fundraising haul. Her cash on hand was $1.69 MILLION after quarter 2.
Her GQP opposition, Mark Robertson, was having trouble fundraising. He raised a pitiful $168k in the 2nd quarter, and raised in quarter 3. His cash on hand is also low — $199k after quarter 2. It is likely dark money will prop up his campaign as Nevada is a hotly contested swing state and this district cannot be ignored by the GQP.
DONATE TO REP. DINA TITUS HERE
Volunteers are super critical for this district. I know I push for volunteering for each candidate I write for, but the transient nature of Las Vegas means that campaigns basically have to start from scratch with each election. Getting a stable voting list and canvassing is vital for this district. The unions assist in that endeavor, but other volunteers are still needed. If you are in Vegas, sign up now!
VOLUNTEER FOR HER CAMPAIGN HERE
In terms of social media, Titus is actually on the lower end for incumbents in terms of followers for her campaign account. She has around 13.1k followers on Twitter, where she is quite prolific in promoting her campaign and attacking her GQP opponent.
She also has Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts associated with her campaign. Below is her last ad, which goes on the offensive against Mark Robertson. We must stop her far-right lunatic opponent!
I kick off Southwestern Week with an incumbent that may be in trouble due to redistricting. Our majority runs through districts like this in the suburbs of the Sun Belt. Rep. Dina Titus has run in competitive races before, even though it has been a while. That’s why I think she is the most likely to survive out of all the Nevada incumbents at risk for our team. Here’s to hoping all three survive!
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Dina Titus for Nevada-1!
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