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Titus fends off progressive challenger in Nevada House primary

FILE - Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington on Feb. 28, 2020. All of Nevada's elected representatives in Congress and Carson City have filed for re-election, including Titus, a Democrat from Las Vegas who submitted her candidacy papers Friday, March 18, 2022, the last day to file for June primaries ahead of midterm elections in November.

Incumbent Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) is projected to win her primary for the state’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, successfully fending off a progressive challenge from Amy Vilela.

The Associated Press called the race at 1:05 a.m. ET.

Titus’s victory marks yet another loss for progressives, who have fallen short in a number of primary contests this cycle. Vilela served as Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) co-chair on his 2020 presidential campaign. Sanders endorsed her last week.

Titus has represented the 1st District, which includes most of Las Vegas and parts of North Las Vegas, since 2013. Republicans consider the seat to be a prime pick-up opportunity, with the National Republican Congressional Committee including it on its target list.

Titus won her latest reelection bid in 2020 with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Both parties face a tough race in November. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as a “toss-up,” along with Nevada’s 3rd and 4th congressional districts, Senate race and gubernatorial contest.