Dina Titus Bio
Alice Constandina “Dina” Titus (born May 23, 1950) is an American politician and academic who has served as the United States Representative for Nevada’s 1st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented Nevada’s 3rd district from 2009 to 2011. Before her election to Congress, Titus was a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
Titus is well known in Nevada politics for her long career in public service, including twenty years in the Nevada Senate, where she served as minority leader from 1993 to 2009. She was also the Democratic nominee for governor of Nevada in 2006. Titus is recognized for her work on consumer protection, animal welfare, and voting rights.
Early Life and Background
Dina Titus was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on May 23, 1950. She grew up in the American South before pursuing higher education in the eastern United States. Her early years in Georgia helped shape her interest in public policy and government, subjects she would later study and teach professionally.
Titus attended the College of William & Mary, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. She went on to receive a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and later completed a Ph.D. at Florida State University. Her strong academic background prepared her for a long career as both a scholar and a public official.
After completing her education, Titus moved to Nevada, where she joined the political science department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She taught there for many years and retired from UNLV in 2011, having built a respected academic career alongside her growing involvement in state politics.
Path to US Politics
Titus first entered electoral politics in 1988, when she was elected to the Nevada Senate, representing the 7th district. She served in the chamber for twenty years, becoming one of the most recognizable Democratic voices in the state legislature. In 1993, she rose to the position of minority leader, a role she held until 2009.
During her time in the Nevada Senate, Titus built a reputation for taking on consumer protection issues. She authored a bill targeting “universal default clauses” used by some credit card issuers, a measure that drew significant public attention. Although the bill was vetoed by Governor Jim Gibbons, major credit card providers such as Citibank and Chase later rolled back or eliminated similar practices under congressional pressure.
In 2006, Titus won the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada but lost the general election to Republican congressman Jim Gibbons. Despite the defeat, her strong showing in Clark County strengthened her standing within the state party and set the stage for her successful run for the U.S. House of Representatives two years later.
Dina Titus Career
Early Career (1988–2008)
Titus’s first notable political role came with her 1988 election to the Nevada Senate. Over the next two decades, she became a leading figure in the state Democratic Party, serving as minority leader and shaping policy debates on issues ranging from consumer rights to public safety.
Her 2006 gubernatorial campaign marked her first statewide run. Although she was unable to defeat Jim Gibbons, her campaign elevated her profile and demonstrated her ability to compete in a heavily Republican year. She returned to the Nevada Senate after the race and continued her work as a state legislator.
U.S. House of Representatives: 2008 Breakthrough (2008–2010)
In 2008, Democrats targeted the 3rd district held by Republican incumbent Jon Porter. After Robert Daskas withdrew from the race, Titus was recruited as the Democratic candidate. She defeated Porter in November, capturing 47% of the vote to his 42% and becoming the first Democrat to represent the district.
Titus benefited from strong anti-Bush sentiment in the Las Vegas area during the 2008 election. She was elected Regional Whip in the 111th Congress, a sign of her growing influence within the House Democratic caucus. Her victory marked the beginning of her federal career in Washington, D.C.
In 2010, Titus was defeated by Republican former state senator Joe Heck by fewer than 2,000 votes. The narrow loss ended her first stint in Congress after a single term.
U.S. House of Representatives: Return to Congress (2012–Present)
Following redistricting in 2011, Titus entered the Democratic primary for Nevada’s 1st congressional district after incumbent Shelley Berkley launched a U.S. Senate campaign. She won the primary and easily defeated Republican challenger Chris Edwards in the general election, returning to Congress after a two-year absence.
Since 2013, Titus has been reelected multiple times in Nevada’s 1st district. In 2014, she defeated Republican nominee Annette Teijeiro with 56.9% of the vote. She went on to win the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections with strong margins, including a 2018 victory over Joyce Bentley by 66.2% of the vote, her highest percentage to date.
After redistricting moved her into a more competitive district, Titus faced progressive challenger Amy Vilela in the 2022 Democratic primary, winning with 79.8% of the vote. In the general election, she defeated Republican Mark Robertson 51.6% to 46.0% in a race rated as a tossup. She won a rematch with Robertson in 2024 with 52.0% of the vote.
Notable Events and Milestones
On December 18, 2019, Titus voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. According to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, she voted with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100% of the time during the 117th Congress. Titus is the author of “Bombs in the Backyard: Atomic Testing and American Politics” and “Battle Born: Federal-State Relations in Nevada During the Twentieth Century.”
Dina Titus Career Wins
Throughout her political career, Dina Titus has won numerous elections at both the state and federal levels. She served twenty years in the Nevada Senate, won a U.S. House seat in 2008, returned to Congress in 2012, and has been repeatedly reelected in Nevada’s 1st congressional district. She also founded the Congressional Wild Horse Caucus and authored the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act.
U.S. House of Representatives Highlights
Titus’s first congressional victory came in 2008, when she defeated Republican incumbent Jon Porter in Nevada’s 3rd district. After a single-term defeat in 2010, she returned to the House in 2012 by winning Nevada’s 1st district. Her 2018 reelection, in which she captured 66.2% of the vote against Joyce Bentley, remains her strongest general election performance to date. She has continued to win competitive races in 2022 and 2024.
Other Wins & Achievements
Titus won the Democratic nomination for governor of Nevada in 2006 and earned strong margins in Clark County. She was first elected to the Nevada Senate in 1988 and later served as minority leader for sixteen years. In December 2010, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her to a six-year term on the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Dina Titus Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Dina Titus has been married to Thomas C. Wright since 1979. Wright is a retired professor of history at UNLV whose research in Latin American history has taken the couple on extended trips throughout Central and South America, as well as Spain. Titus is Greek Orthodox, a reflection of her cultural and family heritage.