2018 United States Senate election in Nevada


The 2018 United States Senate election in Nevada took place November 6, 2018, to elect one of two U.S. Senators from Nevada. Democratic nominee Jacky Rosen defeated Republican incumbent Dean Heller.
Heller had considered a bid for Nevada governor but instead announced he would run for reelection to a second full term. He was the only incumbent Republican senator running in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Rosen's victory marked the first time that Nevada has been represented by two women in the United States Senate, and the first time a Democrat had won the Class 1 Senate seat in Nevada since 1994. Heller was the only Republican incumbent to lose a Senate seat in 2018.
The candidate filing deadline was March 16, 2018, and the primary election was held on June 12, 2018.

Background

Nevada was once a swing state that leaned slightly rightward, having voted for George W. Bush twice. But it has since become the opposite, giving Barack Obama a seven-point victory in 2012 while simultaneously electing Heller to the Senate by one point. Obama also carried Nevada in 2008 by a 12.5% margin. In 2016, the state shifted rightward again, still voting for Hillary Clinton, but only by two points, although Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto managed to win the seat of retiring Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid. Because of the consistent swing nature of the state, many cited Heller as the most vulnerable incumbent Republican in the U.S. Senate up for reelection in 2018, a year with few Republicans in that position; President Donald Trump even warned that if Heller failed to vote to pass the GOP Health care bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, he could well lose his seat in the next election.
At the end of September 2018, the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination became a major element of the campaign. Heller made noncommittal remarks and a significant campaign was deployed to criticize his support for Kavanaugh.
Rosen is only the 37th sitting House freshman to win a Senate election, and the first female Representative to do so.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Independents

Candidates

Declared

Debates

Predictions

Fundraising

Polling

Results

Heller carried 15 of Nevada's 17 county-level jurisdictions, but Rosen carried the two largest, Clark and Washoe. She won Clark County by over 92,000 votes, almost double her statewide margin of over 48,900 votes.