Rep. Dina Titus says Senate race has monopolized Nevada voters' attention

LAS VEGAS — Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) said the Nevada Senate race has monopolized voters' attention and made it harder for House candidates to get their message out.

“The main problem is that it’s taken up all the space,” Titus told The Ballot Box shortly before going onstage at a rally with first lady Michelle Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) on Monday. “We haven’t been able to get any attention to our race so it’s been harder to draw the contrast between my opponent and me.”

Titus, a freshman Democrat, is locked in a tough reelection race with Republican Joe Heck.

She said there was some advantage to having Reid up for reelection — his campaign assembled a “huge Democratic machine” to help drive voter turnout. “We think that’s what’s going to put us all over the top,” she said.

Titus said Reid’s challenger, Republican Sharron Angle, won’t help drive Republican turnout.

“They anticipated that there would be a lot of enthusiasm, but we didn’t see that,” Titus said. “I think it’s one of those Oscar Wilde things, ‘To be known is to be found out.’ The more she talks, the more my opponent talks, the more they come out for these extreme positions. We’ve said they’re just two peas in a pod.”

Moreover, the freshman Democrat said she has a 5,000-vote lead over Heck in early balloting. 

“We know it’s going to be close,” Titus said. “We’re going to work right up to the polls close, and we think we’ll win.”

Titus said Nevada’s economy is the main issue in the campaign.

“We’ve got the highest unemployment rate in addition to the highest foreclosure rates, so it’s all about turning the economy around, creating jobs and then the things that go with that,” she said.

Titus said she expects the Democratic majority in the House to survive the GOP wave Tuesday, despite pundits predicting losses of more than 50 seats.

“I think some of the people who are doing that are looking at it from 10,000 feet. They’re not following the nuances of the different races and seeing how the candidates are working,” she said.

Despite Titus’s best efforts, she trails Heck significantly in the latest poll of the 3rd district race. The Las Vegas Review-Journal/8NewsNow poll had 53 percent of respondents backing Heck while only 43 percent preferred Titus. The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll surveyed Titus's race in early October and found her trailing Heck by just three points — 47 percent to 44 — while 6 percent of likely voters are undecided.

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