Tuesday was a good night for congressional incumbents in Nevada, who easily overcame Democratic Party primary challenges.
The Associated Press has declared Rep. Susie Lee the winner in the 3rd Congressional District and Rep. Steven Horsford the victor in the 4th District, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday morning.
Political handicappers in the state have predicted these two Democrats might face a stiffer challenge from Republican candidates In the Nov. 3 general election. Lee is a first-termer and Horsford is dealing with a scandal that came to light following the 2018 election.
The 3rd District is comprised of areas south of Las Vegas. Lee took 83% of the vote in a three-person field, according to unofficial results on the Nevada Secretary of State website.
In the fall, Lee will defend her seat against former professional wrestler Dan Rodimer, who won about 44% of the vote in a six-person Republican field. Rodimer’s closest rival was Dan Schwartz, who received 33% of the 22,000-vote total.
The 4th Congressional District covers much of central Nevada, including the Yucca Mountain federal property that for decades has been proposed for an underground nuclear waste disposal facility. Horsford won about 75% of the primary vote in a field of six candidates. Some rival Democrats called for him to drop out after he acknowledged an extramarital affair that occurred over several years, starting when he was a Nevada state senator. The affair involved a former intern for then-Nevada Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), according to an article in Vox.
Horsford is in his second term in Congress. He served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015, then lost his re-election bid before coming back in the 2018 midterm elections. In November it appears he will face Republican businessman Jim Marchant. Marchant took 34% of the 26,000-person vote in an eight-person GOP field. Second place was insurance company owner Sam Peters with 30%.
