Nevada 2nd Congressional District GOP primary tests Trump endorsement power

Nevada state Sen. Carrie Buck won the Republican nomination for Nevada’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating businessman Michael Boris and other candidates in a closely watched primary contest to challenge Democratic Rep. Dina Titus in November.

Buck’s victory came after endorsements from President Donald Trump and Gov. Joe Lombardo, as well as support from national Republican groups focused on preserving and expanding the party’s House majority.

Buck, an educator and former school principal who represents the Henderson district in the Nevada Senate, entered the race in 2025, arguing that his experience in education and state government prepared him to take on Titus.

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The Republican primary field also included appliance repair contractor Michael Boris, former pastor and educator Jim Blockey, Rick Saga and Marie Encar Arnold.

Buck’s campaign had a significant fundraising advantage throughout much of the race and was viewed by many political observers in Nevada as a frontrunner heading into Election Day.

Boris argued that Republicans needed an outside candidate to defeat Titus and criticized Buck as an establishment-backed opponent.

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Nevada state Sen. Carrie Ann Buck, a Henderson Republican, is challenging Democratic Rep. Dina Titus in the state’s 1st District. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The general election is now swinging into a district that has long favored Democrats, but has become more competitive after recent redistricting. Cook Political Report rated the race “Likely Democratic”; this reflects Titus’s standing in office and the district’s Democratic lean despite growing Republican optimism.

Nevada’s 1st District, which includes East Las Vegas, Henderson and most of the surrounding communities, carries a D+2 on the Cook Partisan Voting Index and has been represented by Titus since 2013. Republicans haven’t won the seat since former Rep. John Ensign left office in 1999.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., gives a TV interview outside the U.S. Capitol ahead of the House vote on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

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Facing his own primary opposition, Titus is expected to begin his general election campaign with a significant fundraising advantage. Republicans believe Buck gives the party its strongest chance to compete in a district that has grown more competitive in recent years.

Attention now turns to the general election against Titus, a veteran Democrat who has represented the district since 2013 and remains one of Nevada’s most established political figures.