View Dean Heller on OpenCongress.org

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Dean Heller a Republican, and has represented the Second Congressional District of Nevada since 2007. (map)

Contents 1 Record and controversies 1.1 Iraq War 1.2 Environmental record 2 Biography 2.1 Nevada's Electronic Voting Machines 2.2 Congressional career 2.2.1 2006 election 3 Money in politics 4 Committees and Affiliations 5 More Background Data 6 Contact 7 Articles and resources 7.1 Resources 7.2 Sources 7.3 Related SourceWatch articles 7.4 Local blogs and discussion sites 7.5 Articles

Record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes. Want to see someone else's scorecard added to the list? You can do it! Organization 2007 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio 2008 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail. American Conservative Union 96 - 24/25 not avail. AFSCME not avail. not avail. Americans for Democratic Action 15 - 3/20 25 - 5/20 Club for Growth not avail. not avail. Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail. Family Research Council not avail. not avail. Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail. League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail. U.S. Chamber of Commerce 80 - 16/20 not avail.

Iraq War

Environmental record

For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Biography

Having grown up in Carson City, Nevada, Heller graduated from the University of Southern California in 1985. He then worked as a stockbroker before being elected to the Nevada state legislature in 1990. In 1994, he was elected Nevada's Secretary of State, a post to which he was re-elected in 1998 and 2002. He and his wife Lynn have four children. [1]

Nevada's Electronic Voting Machines

As Nevada's Secretary of State, Dean Heller decided to tap the knowledge of the Nevada Gaming Control Authority when deciding upon an electronic voting system for Nevada. They had an extensive background and knowledge for assuring that electronic gaming devices are operating correctly. Following the review, the state went with a touchscreen system from Sequoia Voting Systems, but only after a voter-verified paper trail had been installed on the machines.^[1] Sequoia's name for this version of voting machine is AVC Edge® with VeriVote Printer.

Nevada was the only state in 2004 to use electronic voting machines with a paper trail backup for a statewide election.^[2] The election was generally smooth and organized with few problems.^[3]

However, the statement above is not entirely true. During the 2004 election in which George W. Bush narrowly defeated John Kerry in Nevada, over 51% of the votes in Nevada were counted on 11 year old Sequoias that were not "retrofitted" as promised by Sequoia with printers in time for that election. By the 2006 election, some of those old machines were finally "printer ready" and were at precincts where voters were given a choice to vote on the old machines or the new ones that came with printers. The old machines were involved in previous elections and were impossible to verify the votes on as they only tallied totals of each precinct and there was no way to verify individual votes.

Congressional career

2006 election

Heller faced a tough road to the Republican nomination after the Club for Growth back candidate Sharron Angle in the Republican primary. The bitter primary saw the Club for Growth attack Heller, calling him a liberal and running a TV ad that said, "Dean Heller equals more spending and higher taxes for our families."[2]

Heller won the primary by less than 1% of the vote and Angle refused to concede. Angle sought to have the entire primary invalidated but did not have much of a case.[3]

Heller defeated Democrat Jill Derby 51%-45% to replace Rep. Jim Gibbons, who ran for governor of Nevada.

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2006 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
Las Vegas Sands	$ 48,750
MGM Resorts International	$ 39,000
Murray Energy	$ 36,278
Alliance Resource Partners	$ 34,500
Elliott Management	$ 33,711
Brady Industries	$ 25,000
Crow Holdings	$ 25,000
Goldman Sachs	$ 25,000
Mewbourne Oil Co	$ 25,000
Wynn Resorts	$ 25,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site. Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Dean Heller from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by industry:	2008 election cycle	Career totals

• Revolving door profile for Dean Heller from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• 2006 privately funded travel profile for Dean Heller from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• Personal finance profile for Dean Heller from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

Committees and Affiliations

• House Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
  • Subcommittee on Water & Power
• House Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship
  • Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, Ranking Member

More Background Data

Contact

DC office
361a Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ph: 202-224-6244 Fax: 202-228-5143 Webform email
District offices
No district office information entered.
On the Web
Official website YouTube channel
Campaign office
No campaign website entered. No campaign webform email entered. P.O. Box 7237, Reno, NV 89510-7237 Ph: (none entered) Fax: (none entered)

Articles and resources

Resources

• Dean Heller for Congress, official campaign site.

Sources

1. ↑ Marsha Walton, "Nevada improves odds with e-vote," CNN, October 29, 2004.
2. ↑ Jim Drinkard, "High-tech voting accessory: Paper," USA Today, August 9, 2005.
3. ↑ "Nevada's Seamless E-Vote," Associated Press (via Wired), September 13, 2004.

Related SourceWatch articles

• Freedom's Watch

Local blogs and discussion sites

• Las Vegas Gleaner
• Reno Discontent

Articles

• Rachel Konrad-AP, "'Paper trail' voting system used in Nevada Electronic ballot machines equipped with printers," MSNBC, September 7, 2004.
• Associated Press, "Nevada's Seamless E-Vote", Wired, September 13, 2004.
• Marsha Walton, "Nevada improves odds with e-vote: Slot machine experts consulted on voting technology." CNN, October 29, 2004.
• Jim Drinkard, High-tech voting accessory: Paper", USA Today, August 8, 2005.

Semantic data (Edit data)

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Sen	First name: Dean	Middle name:	Last name: Heller
Suffix:		Nickname:
Party: R	State: NV	District: Junior Seat District short: Junior Seat	Currently in office? True
Gender: M
Phone: 202-224-6244	Fax:	Website: http://www.heller.senate.gov	Webform email: http://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form Email address:
DC office: 361a Russell Senate Office Building
Bioguide ID: H001041	Votesmart ID: 2291	FEC ID: H6NV02164	Govtrack ID: 412218
CRP ID: N00027522	Eventful ID:	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID: SenDeanHeller
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Dean_Heller		YouTubeID: http://youtube.com/SenDeanHeller	Senate class: I

Entered manually within the Template:Politician
U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
110th Congress
Leadership Position: None	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: November 7, 2006	First Took Current Office: January 4, 2007	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? No	Previous Political Work? Nevada Secretary of State, Nevada Assembly	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
Phone: / Fax:
Campaign Contact:
Website: Webform Email: / Email: Campaign Offices: Phone: / Fax:
Misc:
Date of Birth: May 10, 1960 November 7, 2006