Live Blog: Horsford, Amodei win; Question 3 loses
Welcome to The Nevada Independent’s election results live blog!
During election night and the rest of the week, The Indy will be using this page to track results and declare winners in Nevada’s presidential and congressional races, and the key contests in the state Legislature. We’ll also be bringing you results for important ballot questions.
For details on the ballot counting timeline, read our explainer here.
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Races for president, Senate, 2 House races too close to call
After the initial 1 million Nevada results were released in the 10 o’clock hour on Tuesday evening, races for key federal races were too close to call. (See below for the House races we have called).
As of about 11 p.m., former President Donald Trump had a lead of more than 4 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris. He trailed by about 13,000 votes in Clark County, while swingy Washoe County was a dead heat and the deep-red rural counties gave Trump an initial lead. (For the most up-to-date results, click here.)
The initial batch of results included in-person early votes and mail ballots received before Election Day. Registered Republicans had a roughly 4 percentage point turnout advantage over registered Democrats, indicating that nonpartisans — who make up a sizable portion of the electorate — were splitting pretty evenly among the presidential candidates.
There are many outstanding mail and in-person Election Day ballots in Clark County, which should help Democrats because of their registration advantage there.
In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Sam Brown held a miniscule advantage over Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), though he was trailing in bellwether Washoe County. By both percent and raw vote totals, he is underperforming Trump across the state.
In the House, Congressional District 3 — as is custom — is the closest race: Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) has a lead of about 1.5 percentage points over Republican challenger Drew Johnson. While the race is still too close to call, mail ballots dropped off on Election Day in Clark County — which are expected to break toward Democrats — will not be tabulated until tomorrow.
In Congressional District 1, meanwhile, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) has opened up a 5.5 percentage point lead over Republican Mark Robertson. Titus, who has held this seat since 2012, beat Robertson in 2022 by a margin of 5.6 percentage points.
Horsford wins
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) has won a fourth consecutive term to represent Congressional District 4 — and his fifth term overall.
Horsford, who was the 4th District’s first representative when it was created ahead of the 2012 election and then lost his seat in the 2014 red wave, made a political comeback in 2018 and has held the seat ever since. Having served as the chairman of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus for the past two years, he grew his national profile, amplifying his fundraising power and making Republicans hesitant to spend any money on the race.
That contributed to his significant financial advantage over his opponent, former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, in the district, which encompasses Democrat-heavy North Las Vegas and northern Clark County, as well as much of rural central Nevada.
In the general election, Horsford and allied Democratic groups outspent Lee — who received virtually no outside advertising support — by $4.5 million on the airwaves, per ad tracking firm AdImpact.
Horsford was recently reappointed to the powerful Ways & Means Committee, the House panel that writes tax policy and will be the critical battlefield for debates over the expiring Trump tax cuts. If Democrats win the House, his position on the committee is safe — if they lose, the margins will determine whether he keeps his perch or not, though retirements will likely make his position safe barring large Republican pickups.
Control of the House has yet to be determined, with several districts still tabulating votes.
Question 3 fails
Nevada voters have rejected the most significant proposed change to the state’s election system since mail-in ballots were implemented in 2020.
After the release of results from early voting and mail ballots received before Election Day, Question 3, which proposed to implement open primaries and ranked-choice voting, was behind by a substantial margin
Only two states — Maine and Alaska — have widespread ranked-choice voting.
Though the measure failed this year, it passed in 2022 by a narrow 6 percentage points. The proposal’s failure came amid vehement opposition from the state’s top Democrats and Republicans.
Question 6 passes
Nevadans have taken the first step to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution after overwhelmingly passing ballot Question 6.
For more than a year, advocates have sought to further shore up abortion rights in Nevada, part of a nationwide effort to bolster abortion access through ballot questions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
If voters pass the question again in 2026, the state Constitution would be rewritten to include that Nevadans have a fundamental right to abortion.
Abortion is already legal through 24 weeks into a pregnancy in Nevada, and that would not change with this ballot question. However, it would make it harder to overturn, as existing law can be changed by a one-time majority vote of the people, while two majority votes would be necessary to remove the right from the state Constitution.
Question 7 passes
Nevada is one step closer to requiring voter ID after voters overwhelmingly passed ballot Question 7.
The measure now heads to the 2026 ballot, when another affirmative vote would enshrine a voter ID requirement in the state’s Constitution.
The initiative would require all in-person voters in Nevada to present a valid photo identification — such as a driver’s license, passport, student ID card or concealed weapon permit — before voting. People voting by mail would have to include part of a personally identifiable number — such as their driver’s license or Social Security number — alongside their signature.
The measure’s success is hardly a surprise, as limited polling showed strong support for a voter ID requirement. Republicans have been trying to enact voter ID in the state dating back to at least 2015, but have been stymied by Democrats.
Supporters of the ballot question significantly outraised opponents, and Democrats put few resources toward opposing the question, likely given the public’s overwhelming support.
Amodei wins
Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) won a seventh full term to the U.S. House in Congressional District 2, defeating self-funded Greg Kidd, who ran as a nonpartisan.
Amodei has represented the Northern Nevada-based district since 2011. If he finishes out his term, he will be the district’s longest-serving representative, overtaking former Rep. Barbara Vucanovich (R-NV).
The Carson City native had never lost an election by a margin closer than 15 percentage points. While some of the vote is still outstanding, Amodei’s margin looks to be similar to previous election cycles.
Kidd spent more than $2 million of his own money on the race and spent far more on the airwaves than Amodei. But the incumbent, who has been involved in Northern Nevada politics since 1996 and never lost a race, still won.