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 County results Ensign: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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The2000 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent DemocratRichard Bryan decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. Republican nomineeJohn Ensign won the open seat, defeating Ed Bernstein in a landslide despiteGeorge W. Bush carrying the state by a very narrow margin in theconcurrent presidential race.
Bryan had been re-elected in 1994, winning by a comfortable margin amidst a national Republican wave.
Incumbent Senator Richard Bryan had first been elected in1988, and re-elected comfortably in1994 amidst a national Republican wave. When he announced his retirement on February 18, 1999, many saw this decision as creating a competitive race.[1][2] Immediately, both parties sought top recruits, with Democrats favoring former governorBob Miller, and Republicans seeking former congressman, and1998 Senate nomineeJohn Ensign.[3]
Miller was interested, but on March 15, 1999 announced he would not run for Senate.[6] He chose not to run, as he liked living in Nevada and he and his family felt that 25 years in politics was enough.[6][7] With Miller out of the running, the next credible challenger wasNevada Attorney GeneralFrankie Sue Del Papa. However, she would withdraw in September of that year, citing a lack of fundraising.[5] In the end, Democrats would nominate wealthy attorney and talk show host Ed Bernstein.[8]
Bernstein was unopposed in theDemocratic primary.
Ensign, a former congressman, lost the1998 Senate election toHarry Reid by a narrow margin of 401 votes. After this loss, Ensign contemplated leaving politics for good. Bryan's retirement shook up these plans and Ensign, a top recruit for the GOP, ran and became a top fundraiser.[7] Ensign faced only token opposition.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Ensign | 95,904 | 88.03 | |
| Republican | Richard Hamzik | 6,202 | 5.69 | |
| Republican | None of these candidates | 5,290 | 4.86 | |
| Republican | Fernando Platin, Jr. | 1,543 | 1.42 | |
| Total votes | 108,939 | 100.00 | ||
Ensign was the favorite leading in polls by double digits. and significantly outraising his opponent.[10][11] Bernstein would counter by loaning his campaign nearly $1 million of his own money.[12] The trajectory of the race would change in the late summer when Ensign would face attacks for his anti-abortion stance and for voting to slash Social Security benefits. Ensign also was hurt by his comments claiming tax payer funded abortion to be worse than rape.[13] Bernstein also drew attention for his campaign by taking a group of senior citizens toMexico to get them prescription drugs and highlight the high prices of prescription drugs.[14] However, even with these developments, Ensign still maintained a comfortable lead in polling in the closing weeks of the race.[15]
On election night, Ensign won comfortably, winning every county and ending a 12 year losing streak for Republicans in the states Senate races.[16]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Ensign | 330,687 | 55.09% | +14.09% | ||
| Democratic | Edward M. Bernstein | 238,260 | 39.69% | −11.24% | ||
| None of These Candidates | 11,503 | 1.92% | -1.40% | |||
| Green | Kathryn Rusco | 10,286 | 1.71% | |||
| Libertarian | J.J. Johnson | 5,395 | 0.90% | −0.67% | ||
| Independent American | Ernie Berghof | 2,540 | 0.42% | −1.01% | ||
| Citizens First Party | Bill Grutzmacher | 1,579 | 0.26% | |||
| Majority | 92,427 | 15.40% | +5.47% | |||
| Turnout | 600,250 | |||||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Official campaign websites (archived)