Dina Titus | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNevada | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Shelley Berkley |
| Constituency | 1st district |
| In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Jon Porter |
| Succeeded by | Joe Heck |
| Constituency | 3rd district |
| Member of theNevada Senate from the 7th district | |
| In office 1988–2008 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert Jones |
| Succeeded by | David Parks |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alice Constandina Titus (1950-05-23)May 23, 1950 (age 75) Thomasville,Georgia, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | College of William and Mary (BA) University of Georgia (MA) Florida State University (PhD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Alice Constandina "Dina"Titus (/ˈtaɪtəs/TY-təss; born May 23, 1950) is an American politician who has been theUnited States representative forNevada's 1st congressional district since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative forNevada's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated byJoe Heck. Titus is a member of theDemocratic Party. She served in theNevada Senate and was itsminority leader from 1993 to 2009. Before her election to Congress, Titus was a professor ofpolitical science at theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She was the Democratic nominee forgovernor of Nevada in2006.
Titus is expected to become the dean ofNevada's congressional delegation in 2027 when fellow RepresentativeMark Amodei announced his retirement in 2026.[1]
Titus was born inThomasville, Georgia. She graduated from theCollege of William & Mary with abachelor's degree inpolitical science. Titus earned a master's degree from theUniversity of Georgia and aPh.D. fromFlorida State University.[2]
Titus taught in the political science department at theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), retiring in 2011.[3]
First elected in 1988, Titus served for 20 years in theNevada Senate, representing the 7th district.
In December 2010,Senate majority leaderHarry Reid appointed her to a six-year term on theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights.[4]
Titus authored a bill banning "universal default clauses" that have enabled some credit card issuers to boost interest rates by 30% or more. The bill passed the Senate and Assembly, but was vetoed by Gibbons. Credit card providers Citibank and Chase rolled back or eliminated universal default clauses due to political pressure in the U.S. Congress.[5]
IncumbentRepublicanNevadagovernorKenny Guinn could not run again in 2006 due to strict absolute lifetimeterm limit laws. Titus won the Democratic nomination, but lost toRepublican congressmanJim Gibbons. Titus won Clark County, but her margin there was not enough to overcome Gibbons's landslide margin in the 2nd district.
Democrats were heavily targeting3rd district Republican incumbentJon Porter. Their top candidate wasClark County prosecutor Robert Daskas, but Daskas dropped out in April for family reasons. Democrats then recruited Titus, who had won the district in her unsuccessful 2006 run for governor. Titus defeated Porter in November, 47% to 42%, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district. She was a major beneficiary of the overall anti-Bush sentiment in the Las Vegas area.[citation needed] She was elected Regional Whip in the111th Congress.[6]
Republican former state senatorJoe Heck defeated Titus by less than 2,000 votes.[citation needed]
On October 31, 2011, Titus entered the Democratic primary forNevada's 1st congressional district, where her home had been placed by redistricting. The incumbent, DemocratShelley Berkley, gave up the seat to run for theUnited States Senate. While the 3rd is considered a swing district, the 1st is far and away Nevada's safest Democratic seat.[7] Titus initially faced a challenge from State SenatorRuben Kihuen in the primary. Kihuen dropped out in February 2012, reportedly due to trailing in polls and fundraising.[8] This all but assured Titus's return to Congress after a two-year absence. She easily defeated her Republican challenger, Chris Edwards.
Titus was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Annette Teijeiro with 56.9% of the vote.[9] Afterthis election, she became the only Democratic member of Nevada's U.S. House delegation, as fellow DemocratSteven Horsford was defeated.
Titus defeated Republican nominee Mary D. Perry with 61.9% of the vote to Perry's 28.8%; independent Reuben D'Silva received 7.4%.[9]This election saw Democrats pick up two U.S. House seats in Nevada.
Titus defeated Republican nominee Joyce Bentley with 66.2% of the vote, her highest percentage to date.[9]
Titus won a rematch with Bentley, this time with 61.8% of the vote to Bentley's 33.4%.[9]
Titus was redistricted into a much more competitive district. She faced progressive Amy Vilela in the Democratic primary, winning with 79.8% of the vote; in the general election, Titus defeated Republican nomineeMark Robertson, 51.6% to 46.0%. Most poll aggregators rated the race a tossup.[9]
Titus won the general election with 52.0% of the vote in a rematch withMark Robertson.[9]
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On December 18, 2019, Titus voted for both articles of impeachment against PresidentDonald Trump.[10]
Titus voted with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[11]
Titus supported a 2022 rule change which allowed congressional staff to unionize. However, when her own staff voted to form a union in 2023, Titus quashed the effort. According toThe Nevada Independent, the failed unionization effort "left staffers disappointed, but unsurprised." TheIndependent wrote that "ex-staffers described Titus as a vindictive and harsh boss, quick to berate staffers, who ran an office culture that many called toxic and raised ethical questions." Four former staffers said they had wanted to unionize because they were worried they were being asked to do work, including unpaid campaign work, that violated ethics laws. TheHatch Act requires that members of Congress separate their official business from their campaign work, limiting the politicization of taxpayer-funded work. Titus said accusations against her were "unsubstantiated claims by former, anonymous, disgruntled employees." Titus continued, "Jobs in my office are hard jobs and I have high standards.... I'm not apologizing for this. People don't send us back here and pay our salaries to drink lattes and view Tik-Tok from 9-5, Mon.-Fri."[12]
For the119th Congress:[13]
In 2014 Titus received a 100% rating fromPlanned Parenthood for opposing a nationwide abortion ban after 20 weeks and supporting abortion access in theDistrict of Columbia and through thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[26][better source needed]
Titus supports reforms to agriculturalcommodity checkoff programs. She has authored the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, which would require federal checkoff programs to publish budgets, submit to audits, and refrain from contracting with organizations engaged inlobbying or anticompetitive behavior.[27][28]
In 2024, Titus introduced legislation to improveanimal welfare standards inlivestock transportation by strengthening enforcement of time limits for transporting animals and prohibiting the interstate transportation of sick and injured animals.[29]
In 2019, Titus authored legislation that would have required entities governed by theAnimal Welfare Act to create a viable plan to protect their animals in case ofnatural disaster.[30]
Titus is a founder of the Congressional Wild Horse Caucus, which supports policies to protect wild horses and promote humane methods of conservation andpopulation control.[31] In 2024, Titus introduced legislation to prohibit theBureau of Land Management from using helicopters and airplanes to round upwild horses andburros.[32] In 2025, she criticized a Trump administration proposal to cut funding for wild horse management and allow horses in federal custody to be sold forslaughter.[33]
In September 2020, Titus started a successful petition to rename aLibrary of Congress heading from "Armenian massacres" to "Armenian genocide" in the wake ofArmenian genocide recognition by the United States Congress in 2019.[34][35]
On October 1, 2020, Titus co-signed a letter to Secretary of StateMike Pompeo that condemnedAzerbaijan's offensive operations against theArmenian-populated enclave ofNagorno-Karabakh, denouncedTurkey's role in theNagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire.[36]
In 2025, Titus was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for theLaken Riley Act.[37]
On December 16, 2021, Titus expressed her frustration with the process ofredrawing Nevada's congressional districts to make them more electorally competitive. According to theNevada Current, she told anAFL-CIO town hall, "I totally got fucked by the legislature on my district." She added, "I'm sorry to say it like that, but I don't know any other way to say it." Democrats who control the state legislature in Nevadagerrymandered districts to make two swing districts stronger for Democrats. She warned that three safe seats were then at risk of turning Republican in the2022 election.[38][39]
On February 9, 2023, Titus voted against H.J.Res. 24: Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 which condemns the District of Columbia's plan that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.[40][41]
In 2023, Titus voted against H.Con.Res. 21 which directed PresidentJoe Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[42][43]
In 2025, Titus,Deborah Ross, andLance Gooden introduced the Pro Codes Act.[44] If enacted, the bill would allow private, for-profit corporations to claim copyright of laws based on the "model codes" they sell to government bodies. This would overturn cases likeVeeck v. Southern Building Code Congress Int'l that have held that the public has the right to view, copy, dissect, and critique laws they are held to regardless of the authorship of the text.
Titus has been married to Thomas C. Wright since 1979. Wright is a retired professor of history at UNLV. His studies inLatin American history have taken the couple on extended journeys throughout Central and South America and to Spain.[45]
She isGreek Orthodox.[46]
Titus is the author ofBombs in the Backyard: Atomic Testing and American Politics[47] andBattle Born: Federal-State Relations in Nevada During the Twentieth Century.[48]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Nevada 2006 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNevada's 3rd congressional district 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNevada's 1st congressional district 2013–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of the House Democracy Partnership 2023–present | |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 98th | Succeeded by |
| Territorial (1861–1864) |
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| One at-large seat (1864–1983) |
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| Districts (1983–present) (3rd district established in 2003) (4th district established in 2013) |
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