Rep. Mark Amodei retains U.S. House seat

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nv., will return to Washington, D.C., in January as representative of Nevada’s second congressional district.

Democrat Clint Koble was ahead by 4,200 in Washoe County but Amodei led by 13,400 in the other counties that make up the predominantly rural Nevada district.

Amodei has held the seat since 2011 when he was first elected in a special election replacing Dean Heller. That election was called after Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Heller to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the resignation of John Ensign.

Amodei, 60, has said he will continue to push to fix immigration reform and described DACA, the program protecting immigrant children as “low hanging fruit.”

He said wiping the slate clean by repealing the Affordable Care Act isn’t the answer, that Congress should fix the problems with it, not repeal it.

He has promised to protect Medicare and Social Security.

In addition, Amodei said he will continue working with local officials to draft sensible plans to transfer federal lands to state and local control to enable economic growth, particularly in Nevada’s rural communities, many of which are “landlocked” by federal lands and unable to accommodate growth.

Koble, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official who ran a spirited campaign, was unable to overcome Amodei’s advantages in incumbency and registration in a district that has never been won by a Democrat.

Amodei was the lone Republican victor in Nevada’s U.S. House races on Tuesday.

Incumbent Dina Titus defeated Joyce Bentley in District 1 (Las Vegas); Susie Lee topped Danny Tarkanian in District 3 (south of Las Vegas); and Steven Horsford bested Cresent Hardy in District 4 (central Nevada).