Multiple House members are facing challenges from their own parties on Tuesday, and not just from candidates backed by former President Donald Trump.
South Carolina GOP Reps. Nancy Mace and Tom Rice’s races against Trump-backed challengers have been in the spotlight as a test of Trump’s sway over the Republican Party.
But two Nevada House members are also looking to fend off primary challengers, with one race attracting a big-name endorsement, and another attracting outside spending.
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Last week Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., endorsed businesswoman Amy Vilela in her race against Rep. Dina Titus, writing in a tweet that Vilela, will be a champion for working families, and will fight for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, housing for all, and progressive foreign policy.” Titus co-sponsors “Medicare for All” legislation in the House but not the so-called Green New Deal.
Vilela, who co-chaired Sanders’ 2020 campaign in Nevada, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018. That year she was featured in the Netflix documentary “Knock Down the House,” along with now-Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri.
Titus, who was first elected in 2008, has outraised Vilela, raking in $1.3 million to Vilela’s $491,000. But Vilela has actually outspent Titus in the race, spending $437,000 to Titus’ $329,000 as of May 25, per campaign finance documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
This race is expected to be competitive in the general election. The Cook Political Report rates the race a Toss Up.
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Rep. Mark Amodei, the only Republican in the state delegation, is facing a primary challenge from perennial GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian. Tarkanian, whose father was the legendary UNLV basketball coach, has run for federal office six times and local office even more times, losing all his races except for his 2020 election to the Douglas County Commission.
Tarkanian has loaned his campaign more than $300,000, and is trying to attack Amodei as not conservative enough, hitting him on his votes on immigration and government spending.
Amodei has pushed back by leaning on his experience and digging in on his conservative credentials, while the GOP-leadership aligned Congressional Leadership Fund has been attacking Tarkanian as a “perennial loser.”
CLF and a super PAC known as the With Honor Fund have spent a combined $457,000 on ads boosting Amodei, while Tarkanian’s campaign has spent $306,000 on ads, per AdImpact. Amodei’s own campaign has spent just $23,000 on ads.
This race is not expected to be competitive in November's general election.
