Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) is risking her second midterm defeat in two different districts in the last 12 years, as polls show her Republican opponent, Mark Robertson, a retired U.S. Army colonel, with a lead and the momentum in the waning days of the general election contest in Nevadaâs 1st Congressional District.
Titus, a 72-year-old former political science professor, lost narrowly to Republican Joe Heck in Nevadaâs 3rd Congressional District during the Tea Party-inspired red wave in 2010 during the Obama administration.
Two years later, she moved to what was then called Nevadaâs âsafestâ congressional district for Democrats, pushing out a young, popular Latino Democrat who was favored by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for the seat, according to a Las Vegas newspaper account at the time.
âTitus not only stood up to the Senate majority leader and lived to tell about it, but she also appears to have claim to a Congressional seat for as long as she wants it,â reported the Las Vegas Sun.
But the latest voting data shows Titus in a fight to defend her seat, held since 2013.
Polls, District Turning Against Titus
A new Emerson College poll of 480 likely voters shows Robertson with a commanding lead over Titus with less than a week left.
âRepublican Mark Robertson has a ten-point lead over incumbent Democrat Dina Titus, 51%to 41%,â said Emerson in its survey release, which noted that with undecided voters counted, Robertsonâs lead goes to 12 points. The poll had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
âWith undecided votersâ support accounted for, Robertsonâs support increases to 54% and Titus to 42%. Since the July Emerson/KLAS/The Hill survey, Titus has held at 41% while Robertson has gained 14 percentage points, from 37% to 51%,â added the Emerson survey.
By John Ransom