Former member of Congress · last served 115th Congress

Dean Heller

REPUBLICAN U.S. Senator · NevadaSenate 2011–2019 · House 2007–2011 (NV-2)

Dean Heller was a Republican U.S. senator from Nevada, first elected to Congress in 2007, who voted with most Republicans on 74% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes and sponsored 2 bills that became law (113th–115th Congress).

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170Bills & resolutions sponsored113th–115th Congress (excludes amendments)

8Passed a chamberof 160 substantive bills (excludes resolutions and ceremonial bills)

2Became law2 substantive + 0 ceremonial · 113th–115th Congress

59Broke with partyof 227 yes/no votes, 112th (26.0%)

24Missed votesof 251 roll calls, 112th (9.6%)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

5 most recent votes

YeaOn Passage of the Bill — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
Jan 1, 2013 · Bill Passed
NayOn the Nomination — Nomination vote
Dec 30, 2012 · Nomination Confirmed
YeaOn the Nomination — Nomination vote
Dec 30, 2012 · Nomination Confirmed
YeaOn Passage of the Bill — Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
Dec 28, 2012 · Bill Passed
YeaOn the Amendment — Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
Dec 28, 2012 · Amendment Rejected

5 most recent bills

S. 414 Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act
Dec 4, 2018 · Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 708.
S. 3597 Protecting Child Trafficking Victim Witnesses Act
Oct 11, 2018 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
S. 3583 Innovations in Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships Act
Oct 11, 2018 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
S. 3582 A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a new phaseout of the credit for plug-in electric drive motor vehicles.
Oct 11, 2018 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
S. 3580 Seniors Affordable Housing Tax Credit Act
Oct 11, 2018 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Top bills sponsored

S. 327 (115th) Fair Access to Investment Research Act of 2017
Became law
S. 114 (115th) VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017
Became law
S. 1203 (114th) 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery and Other Improvements Act
Passed a chamber
H.R. 2515 (110th) Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Act
Passed a chamber
S. 462 (115th) Securities and Exchange Commission Overpayment Credit Act
Passed a chamber
H.R. 762 (111th) To validate final patent number 27-2005-0081, and for other purposes.
Passed a chamber
H.R. 2246 (110th) A bill to provide for the release of any reversionary interest of the United States in and to certain lands in Reno, Nevada.
Passed a chamber
S. 174 (115th) Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2017
Passed a chamber

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Sen. Heller has won

Sen. Heller has won 3 U.S. House elections (2006–2010) and 1 U.S. Senate election (2012). Of the contested races, margins ran from 1.2 to 30.6 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won4 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 1.2 points2012, NV Senate

Won an open seat or took one from the other party1 of 4 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, Nevada’s 2nd districtWinners, most recent three: James Gibbons (R) 1996–2004 → Dean Heller (R) 2006–2010 → Mark E. Amodei (R) 2012–2024. Elections shown, not terms; special elections not included.

Seat history, Nevada Senate (class 1)Winners in regular elections, most recent three: John Ensign (R) 2000–2006 → Dean Heller (R) 2012 → Jacky Rosen (D) 2018–2024.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

How has Nevada done while Sen. Heller served?

2011 to 2018 in Nevada: typical household income was up 7% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was down 3.0 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 7.1 points.

Typical household income · after inflation

Nevada: $68.6K in 2011 → $73.5K in 2018

Nevada up 7%U.S. up 10%

Share of people below the poverty line

Nevada: 15.9% in 2011 → 12.9% in 2018

Nevada down 3.0 pointsU.S. down 2.8 points

Share of workers looking for a job

Nevada: 12.7% in 2011 → 5.6% in 2018

Nevada down 7.1 pointsU.S. down 5.3 points

Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Oxblood = state, grey = U.S.

While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Nevada during Heller’s time representing it (2011 to 2019). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.

Nevada’s borders do not change, so every year is comparable. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.

See the full 20-year record →Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (tables B19013, B17001, B23001) and BLS CPI-U-RS for inflation, retrieved October 18, 2026. “About the same” means the change is inside the 90% margins of error. Who held the seat: Congress.gov member service records, year level.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

115th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 72 bills sponsored.

Record	Bills	Source
Bills sponsored	72	Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a CBO cost estimate listed	5	See the 5 →
With a committee report listed	3	See the 3 →

Evidence

How counted: Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 115th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields: cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed: October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · latest recorded Senate vote Sep 30, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.