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Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)
- Primary date: June 9
- Primary type: Closed
- Registration deadline(s): May 12 (postmarked); June 4 (online)
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Early voting starts: May 23
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): June 9 (postmarked or hand-delivered)
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2022 →
← 2018
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| Nevada's 3rd Congressional District |
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 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: March 13, 2020 |
| Primary: June 9, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Susie Lee (Democratic) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Nevada |
| Race ratings |
Inside Elections: Likely Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| See also |
1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th Nevada elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
A Democratic Party primary took place on June 9, 2020, in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 3, 2020.
Incumbent Susie Lee advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 3.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Susie Lee (Democrat), who was first elected in 2018.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Nevada has a closed primary system where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. A voter may be able to affiliate or change their affiliation on the day of the primary.[1][2][3]
This page focuses on Nevada's 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)
- Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Nevada modified its primary election process as follows:
- Voting procedures: Mail-in ballots sent to all registered voters in the primary election.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 3
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Susie Lee | 82.8 | 49,223 |
 | Dennis Sullivan  | 9.8 | 5,830 | |
 | Tiffany Ann Watson | 7.4 | 4,411 | |
| Total votes: 59,464 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Richard Hart (D)
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[4] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Dennis Sullivan, MS, DO is a third generation veteran living in Henderson, NV. In the United States Navy, he achieved the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class (SW) Sonar Technician. During his enlistment he deployed twice aboard the USS Howard (DDG-83) serving as a sonar technician and Visit, Board, Search, Seizure (V.B.S.S.) Team Leader and Breacher. After leaving the service Dennis completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at San Diego State University, while also starting a pre-medicine student interest group. The group's goal was to inform future physicians on military service repayment options to assist with the cost of medical school. These volunteer activities and their accompanying insights continued with food pantries, student education, community outreach and clinical rotations while a medical student in New York. During his early enlistment he met his wife of now 14 years Kimberly, also a US Navy veteran. Before leaving San Diego, Dennis and Kimberly welcomed their son Sebastian into the world. During delivery Kimberly experienced numerous unexpected complications resulting in emergency surgery, multiple transfusions and an extended stay at Balboa Naval Hospital's Intensive Care Unit in San Diego, CA. This experience provided Dennis with a real life example of the importance of healthcare during crises furthering his commitment for access for all Americans."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Nevada District 3 in 2020.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "As a person who strongly believes in the Constitution, I will do everything I can to protect it and the rights of Americans. "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Nevada District 3 in 2020.
District analysis
- See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
- See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores
The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+2, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Nevada's 3rd Congressional District the 224th most Republican nationally.[5]
FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.[6]
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[7] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[8] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Susie Lee | Democratic Party | $4,797,553 | $4,781,543 | $28,704 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Dennis Sullivan | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Tiffany Ann Watson | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[9]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[10][11][12]
| Race ratings: Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Lean Democratic | Lean Democratic | Lean Democratic | Lean Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | Likely Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
District represented by a Democrat in 2020 and won by Donald Trump in 2016
This district was one of 30 Democratic-held U.S. House districts up in 2020 that Donald Trump (R) won in the 2016 presidential election. Most were expected to be among the House's most competitive elections in 2020.
| 2020 Democratic-held U.S. House districts won by Donald Trump in 2016 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Incumbent | Ran in 2020? | 2018 congressional margin | 2016 presidential margin | 2012 presidential margin | ||||||||
| Arizona's 1st |  Tom O'Halleran |
Yes | Democrats+7.7 | Trump+1.1 | Romney+2.5 | ||||||||
| Georgia's 6th | Lucy McBath |
Yes | Democrats+1.0 | Trump+1.5 | Romney+23.3 | ||||||||
| Illinois' 14th | Lauren Underwood |
Yes | Democrats+5.0 | Trump+3.9 | Romney+10 | ||||||||
| Illinois' 17th | Cheri Bustos |
Yes | Democrats+24.2 | Trump+0.7 | Obama+17 | ||||||||
| Iowa's 1st | Abby Finkenauer |
Yes | Democrats+5.1 | Trump+3.5 | Obama+13.7 | ||||||||
| Iowa's 2nd | Dave Loebsack |
Retired | Democrats+5.2 | Trump+4.1 | Obama+13.1 | ||||||||
| Iowa's 3rd | Cindy Axne |
Yes | Democrats+2.2 | Trump+3.5 | Obama+4.2 | ||||||||
| Maine's 2nd | Jared Golden |
Yes | Democrats+1.3 | Trump+10.3 | Obama+8.6 | ||||||||
| Michigan's 8th | Elissa Slotkin |
Yes | Democrats+3.8 | Trump+6.7 | Romney+3.1 | ||||||||
| Michigan's 11th | Haley Stevens |
Yes | Democrats+6.7 | Trump+4.4 | Romney+5.4 | ||||||||
| Minnesota's 2nd | Angie Craig |
Yes | Democrats+5.5 | Trump+1.2 | Obama+0.1 | ||||||||
| Minnesota's 7th | Collin Peterson |
Yes | Democrats+4.3 | Trump+30.8 | Romney+9.8 | ||||||||
| Nevada's 3rd | Susie Lee |
Yes | Democrats+9.1 | Trump+1.0 | Obama+0.8 | ||||||||
| New Hampshire's 1st | Chris Pappas |
Yes | Democrats+8.6 | Trump+1.6 | Obama+1.6 | ||||||||
| New Jersey's 3rd | Andrew Kim |
Yes | Democrats+1.3 | Trump+6.2 | Obama+4.6 | ||||||||
| New Jersey's 5th | Josh Gottheimer |
Yes | Democrats+13.7 | Trump+1.1 | Romney+3.0 | ||||||||
| New Jersey's 11th | Mikie Sherrill |
Yes | Democrats+14.6 | Trump+0.9 | Romney+5.8 | ||||||||
| New Mexico's 2nd | Xochitl Torres Small |
Yes | Democrats+1.9 | Trump+10.2 | Romney+6.8 | ||||||||
| New York's 11th | Max Rose |
Yes | Democrats+6.5 | Trump+9.8 | Obama+4.3 | ||||||||
| New York's 18th | Sean Maloney |
Yes | Democrats+10.9 | Trump+1.9 | Obama+4.3 | ||||||||
| New York's 19th | Antonio Delgado |
Yes | Democrats+5.2 | Trump+6.8 | Obama+6.2 | ||||||||
| New York's 22nd | Anthony Brindisi |
Yes | Democrats+1.8 | Trump+15.5 | Romney+0.4 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma's 5th | Kendra Horn |
Yes | Democrats+1.4 | Trump+13.4 | Romney+18.4 | ||||||||
| Pennsylvania's 8th | Matt Cartwright |
Yes | Democrats+9.3 | Trump+9.6 | Obama+11.9 | ||||||||
| Pennsylvania's 17th | Conor Lamb |
Yes | Democrats+12.5 | Trump+2.6 | Romney+4.5 | ||||||||
| South Carolina's 1st | Joe Cunningham |
Yes | Democrats+1.4 | Trump+13.1 | Romney+18.1 | ||||||||
| Utah's 4th | Ben McAdams |
Yes | Democrats+0.3 | Trump+6.7 | Romney+37.0 | ||||||||
| Virginia's 2nd | Elaine Luria |
Yes | Democrats+2.2 | Trump+3.4 | Romney+2.3 | ||||||||
| Virginia's 7th | Abigail Spanberger |
Yes | Democrats+1.9 | Trump+6.5 | Romney+10.5 | ||||||||
| Wisconsin's 3rd | Ron Kind |
Yes | Democrats+19.3 | Trump+4.5 | Obama+11 | ||||||||
| Source: Sabato's Crystal Ball and Daily Kos | |||||||||||||
Click here to see the five U.S. House districts represented by a Republican in 2020 and won by Hillary Clinton in 2016.
See also
- Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)
- Nevada's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
- United States House elections in Nevada, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Nevada, 2020 (June 9 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Nevada Legislature, "Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.287," accessed September 12, 2025
- ↑ Nevada Legislature, "Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.5847," accessed September 12, 2025
- ↑ Nevada Legislature, "Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.560," accessed September 12, 2025
- ↑ Candidate Connection surveys completed before September 26, 2019, were not used to generate candidate profiles. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
