The Nevada congressional elections of 2006 took place on November 7, 2006, when each of the state's three congressional districts elected a representative to the United States House of Representatives. Nevada was considered a battleground state due to the close victory margins. The primaries were held on August 15.
Nevada was one of seven states in which the party that won the state's popular vote did not win a majority of seats in 2006, the other states being Indiana, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Results of the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Nevada by district:
Incumbent Democrat Shelley Berkley, who had represented the district since 1999, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 66.0% of the vote in 2004 and the district had a PVI of D+9.
The district covers all of Nevada outside of Clark County as well as some parts of Clark County. Incumbent Republican Jim Gibbons, who had represented the district since 1997, opted to run for governor rather than re-election, having considered a run for Senate in 2004. He was reâÂÂelected with 67.2% of the vote in 2004 and the district had a PVI of R+8.
There was a "fiercely contested and often bruising" three-way race (with two minor candidates raising the total to five candidates). The Club for Growth poured in over $1 million backing Angle, and ran ads attacking both Heller and Gibbons as being "liberal" and in favor of tax increases.
After the primary, Angle refused to concede, complaining of voting irregularities that disenfranchised many voters in her popular home base of Washoe County, which includes Reno and is by far the district's most populous and vote-rich jurisdiction. Rather than calling for a recount â the typical route for candidates who challenge close election outcomes â Angle demanded to have the entire primary invalidated and held again. CQPolitics.com noted "Some have charged AngleâÂÂs decision to call for a special primary was based on economics: Had she demanded a recount, Angle would have been responsible for the cost of the procedure unless the result vindicated her request for it. That would not be the case if the courts were to order a primary do-over."
Exacerbating the disunity of the Nevada GOP, Nevada's Republican Party chairman, Paul Adams, announced his support for Angle's court challenge.
At a September 1 state court hearing, District Judge Bill Maddox rejected Angle's request on grounds that the state court lacks jurisdiction in congressional elections. According to Maddox, only the U.S. House of Representatives has standing to call for a new election. At that point, Angle conceded the race.
The bruising GOP primary, as compared to the Democratic situation, was reflected in the cash reserves reported by each candidate in their pre-primary filings with the Federal Election Commission. Derby had $444,000 on hand as of July 26, out of $748,000 raised. Heller had 260,000 left â and that was with 20 days left to go before the actual primary â out of $904,000 in total receipts, which included $108,000 in funds from his personal accounts.
In late August, CQPolitics.com analyzed the race: "Although the 2nd District generally leans Republican, Derby's competitive position in the general election was already strengthened by the fact that she was unopposed in the Aug. 15 Democratic primary while the Republicans staged a bruising battle among three well-known candidates."
The Las Vegas Sun, quoting University of Nevada-Reno political scientist Eric Herzik, noted that the intra-fighting has given the Democratic Party a chance in this otherwise Republican leaning district. "Jill Derby was already doing everything right, and then she gets this gift," he said. "How do you turn a safe district into a competitive one? Fight among yourselves. Republicans here have won because they've stayed united and they continue to turn out. Now you've got partisan infighting, and Adams' leadership is aiding and abetting that - in an already bad year for Republicans."
Incumbent Republican Jon Porter, who had represented the district since 2003, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 54.5% of the vote in 2004 and the district had a PVI of D+1.
Porter was a member of the moderate/liberal Republican Main Street Partnership and was a supporter of stem-cell research.
On election day Porter edged out Hafen by just under 4,000 votes, by far his tightest margin of victory in his congressional career thus far.