Primary Outlook: Women Candidates in Nevada

Kelly Dittmar

Gender Watch 2018From March to December 2018, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) partnered to offer Gender Watch 2018, which tracked, analyzed, and illuminated gender dynamics in the 2018 midterm elections. With the help of expert scholars and practitioners, Gender Watch 2018 furthered public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in campaigns. The blog below was written for Gender Watch 2018, as part of our collective effort to raise questions, suggest answers, and complicate popular discussions about gender’s role U.S. elections.

 

Ahead of the Nevada primary election on June 12, 2018, we outline the numbers and proportions of women who have filed as candidates for congressional and statewide office. The data below also provide points of historical comparison to give context to today’s presence and potential success of women candidates.

All data are provided from the Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. For a full list of the women candidates in Nevada primary races for congressional and statewide offices, see CAWP’s Election Watch page.

CONGRESS

Current: 3 (3D) of 6 members of the Nevada congressional delegation (50%)
Filed: 13 (6D, 7R)
Percent of all Filed Congressional Candidates (D/R): 25% (13 of 52)

SENATE

Current: 1 of 2 senators

  • Incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D) became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada in 2016. She is not up for re-election this year.

Filed: 3 (1D, 2R)

  • Current U.S. Representative Jacky Rosen (D-NV03) is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Senator Dean Heller in November.
  • 2 (2R) women candidates are running as challengers to Heller for the Republican nomination.

Percent of all Filed Senate Candidates (D/R): 27.3% (3 of 11)
Percent of all Filed Democratic Senate Candidates:  16.7% (1 of 6)
Percent of all Filed Republican Senate Candidates: 40% (2 of 5)

HOUSE

Current: 2 of 4 representatives (50%)

  • 5 (4D, 1R) women have served in the U.S. House from Nevada, including current Representatives Dina Titus (D) and Jacky Rosen (D). Titus is running for re-election this year, while Rosen is running for the U.S. Senate.

Filed:  10 (5D, 5R)

  • 1 (1D) woman incumbent – Representative Dina Titus (D) – is running for re-election.
  • 2 (2R) women are running as challengers, including 1 (1R) woman candidate challenging an incumbent of her own party in NV-02 and 1 (1R) woman candidate seeking the Republican nomination to challenge a Democratic incumbent Dina Titus in NV-01.
  • 7 (4D, 3R) women are running in open seat contests in NV-03 and NV-04.

* 4 (2D, 2R) of 10 women candidates for U.S. House from Nevada are women of color, including 2 (2D) Black women, 1 (1R) Latina, and 1 (1R) woman who identifies as multiracial (Asian and White). Nevada has never sent a woman of color to the U.S. House.

Districts with Women Candidates: 4 of 4
Percent of all Filed House Candidates (D/R):  24.4% (10 of 41)
Percent of all Filed Democratic House Candidates:  23.8% (5 of 21)
Percent of all Filed Republican House Candidates: 25% (5 of 20)

Recent history: The number of women who filed for major party candidacy for the U.S. House in Nevada in 2018 is greater than any other year between 2008 and 2018.

  • In 2016, when just 1 U.S. House seat was open (1), 8 (4D, 4R) women filed as primary candidates. This year, there are 2 open U.S. House seats in Nevada.
  • This year marks the highest number of Democratic and Republican women running for the U.S. House in Nevada between 2008 and 2018.

GOVERNOR

Current: 0
No woman has ever served as governor of Nevada.

Filed:  2 (1D, 1R)

  • Democrat Christina Giunchigliani and Republican Stephanie Carlisle are competing for Nevada’s open gubernatorial seat.

Percent of all Filed Gubernatorial Candidates (D/R):  14.3% (2 of 14)
Percent of all Filed Democratic House Candidates:  16.7% (1 of 6)
Percent of all Filed Republican House Candidates: 12.5% (1 of 8)

OTHER STATEWIDE ELECTED EXECUTIVE OFFICES

Current: 1 (1R) of 5 positions (excludes governor) (20%)

  • Incumbent State Treasurer Barbara Cegavske (R) is running for re-election this year. She is the only Republican woman running for a statewide executive office in 2018.

Filed:  4 (3D, 1R)

  • 2 (2D) women are running for the open lieutenant governor position.
  • 1 (1D) woman is running to challenge the Republican incumbent for state comptroller.
  • 1 (1R) incumbent woman – Barbara Cegavske – is running for re-election as state treasurer.
  • There are no women candidates for attorney general or secretary of state.

Percent of all Filed Statewide Executive (other than governor) Candidates (D/R): 20% (4 of 20)
Percent of all Filed Democratic Statewide Executive (other than governor) Candidates: 37.5% (3 of 8)
Percent of all Filed Republican Statewide Executive (other than governor) Candidates: 8.3% (1 of 12)

Recent history: The number of women who filed for major party candidacy for the statewide executive offices (other than governor) in Nevada in 2018 is not a record high. More women competed for these nominations in both 2014 (5) and 2010 (5).

Kelly Dittmar headshot

Kelly Dittmar

Kelly Dittmar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers–Camden and Director of Research and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is the co-author of A Seat at the Table: Congresswomen’s Perspectives on Why Their Representation Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018) (with Kira Sanbonmatsu and Susan J. Carroll) and author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press, 2015).

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