Nevada's Mark Amodei Becomes 30th House Republican Retiring This Cycle
Amodei has been the sole Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation since January 2019.
U.S. Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada, a Republican, has today decided not to run for re-election in 2026. His retirement announcement can be found here. He becomes the 52nd retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives this cycle, the 30th Republican to do so, and the 25th leaving without running for another office.
Amodei, 67, has served Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since September 2011. Based in Reno and Carson City, the district covers all of Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Pershing, Storey, Washoe, and White Pine Counties as well as part of Lyon County.
Since January 2019, Amodei has served as the dean and only Republican of Nevada’s congressional delegation. Neither of the state’s Senate seats are up this cycle. Amodei’s three Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House - Dina Titus, Susie Lee, and Steven Horsford - are currently set to run for new terms.
From 1983 to 1987, Amodei served in the U.S. Army - retiring with the rank of captain. He then worked as a lawyer at Allison MacKenzie in Carson City from 1987 to 2004 and at Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw & Ferrario from 2004 to 2007. He has been a solo practitioner since 2009. He also had an extensive career in the Nevada state legislature - holding District 40 in the Nevada Assembly from January 1997 to February 1999 and District 17 in the Nevada Senate from February 1999 to February 2011. Furthermore, he was Chair of the Nevada Republican Party from May 2010 to June 2011.
In 2011, Amodei ran in the special election for the 2nd District after three-term Republican incumbent Dean Heller was appointed to the U.S. Senate. He held onto the seat for his party with a 57.9-36.1 victory against Democrat Kate Marshall, who later became the state’s Lieutenant Governor. He has served for eight terms in office.
During the 119th Congress, Amodei serves on the House Committees on Appropriations; and Natural Resources. Furthermore, he chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. He’s the first Subcommittee Chair to leave the powerful Appropriations Committee. Notably, his panel is the only one not to pass its fiscal year 2026 funding bill due to controversies surrounding ICE and CBP.
Amodei becomes the sixth member departing the Appropriations panel - following Republicans Ashley Hinson of Iowa, Julia Letlow of Louisiana, and Dan Newhouse of Washington as well as Democrats Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Steny Hoyer of Maryland. Meanwhile, he becomes the eighth member leaving the Natural Resources committee - joining Republicans Mike Collins of Georgia, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Wesley Hunt of Texas, and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin as well as Democrats Julia Brownley of California, Jared Golden of Maine and Nydia Velázquez of New York
No candidates have yet expressed interest in running for the Republican nomination to succeed Amodei in the 2nd District. Meanwhile, four Democrats are currently competing: former West Wendover city councilmember Kathy Durham, organizer Matthew Fonken, 2024 Independent candidate Greg Kidd, and student Morgan Wadsworth. Given the partisan lean of the district though, the winner of the Republican primary will likely become the next U.S. Representative here.
Under the current lines, Republican Donald Trump won Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District with a 55.8-41.9 finish against Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. That came as Trump was flipping the swing state 50.6-47.5 in his ultimately successful national campaign. On the same ballot, Amodei was re-elected with a 55.0-36.1 victory against Kidd for his final term in office.