Dean Heller

Dean A. Heller (born May 10, 1960) is the junior United States Senator from Nevada and a member of the Republican Party. Heller was appointed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval to a vacant seat created by the resignation of John Ensign. He was previously a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing NV's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2011. Prior to that he served as Secretary of State of Nevada (1995–2007) and a member of the Nevada Assembly (1991–1995). He ran in the 2012 election for the United States Senate seat to which he was appointed, and was declared the winner on November 7, 2012. He will serve his full term, which will end in January 2019.

Early life, education, and business career
Heller was born in Castro Valley, California, to Janet (née MacNelly) and Charles Alfred "Jack" Heller, a stock car driver. He a is longtime resident of Carson City, having moved there with his family at the age of 9 months. He graduated Carson High School, later earning his BBA, specializing in finance and securities analysis, from the University of Southern California in 1985. Prior to entering politics, Heller worked as an institutional stockbroker and as a broker/trader on the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Early political career
Heller served as the Chief Deputy State Treasurer prior to his election to the Nevada Assembly.

Assembly
He served two terms in the Nevada Assembly from 1990 to 1994. While in this legislature, Heller authored a bill to reform state retirement pensions. He represented the capital, Carson City.

Secretary of State
Heller was elected Secretary of State of Nevada in 1994, and was re-elected in 1998 and 2002, served in this capacity from 1995 to 2006—when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

As secretary, Heller made Nevada the first state in the nation to implement an auditable paper trail to electronic voting machines.

The Secretary of State of Nevada is the third highest-ranking constitutional officer in the State—serving as the state's chief elections officer. The office includes the elections division, commercial recordings division, securities fraud division and the notary division. The Secretary is also is an ex-officio member of Nevada's Board of Examiners (which includes the governor and attorney general), State Prison Board, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

U.S. House of Representatives


Heller announced his candidacy in 2005. On August 15, 2006, he narrowly won the Republican primary for the congressional seat being vacated by 10-year incumbent Jim Gibbons, who was running for governor. Heller received 24,781 votes to Assemblywoman Sharron Angle's 24,353. Dawn Gibbons, a former State Assemblywoman and wife of the incumbent, finished third with 17,328 votes.

Heller defeated University of Nevada Regent and Democratic candidate Jill Derby in the November general election by 5 percent, the closest race in the history of this normally heavily Republican district. Heller lost Washoe County, home to Reno and by far the largest county in the district (it casts more than 70 percent of the district's vote). However, he won most of the rural areas of the district by margins of 2-to-1 or more, allowing him to win the district by 12,600 votes. Heller was almost certainly helped by the presence of Gibbons atop the ballot; Gibbons carried the 2nd by a landslide margin in his successful gubernatorial bid. He faced Derby again in 2008. However, the district reverted to form and Heller won by 10 points. He easily dispatched an underfunded Democrat in 2010.

In 2009, Heller had been rumored to be a candidate to challenge embattled Republican incumbent Governor Jim Gibbons or Democratic United States Senator Harry Reid in 2010. He declined to run for governor or senator, and instead chose to run for re-election.

Tenure
Heller was appointed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval to the vacant seat created by the resignation of John Ensign. He assumed office upon his resignation from the U.S. House on May 9, 2011.

In 2011, Heller voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

2012 election
Dean Heller announced that he will run for the United States Senate to succeed John Ensign after Ensign announced his retirement. He ran as the incumbent following his appointment to the seat by Governor Sandoval. In September 2012, Heller received an endorsement from the Filipino-American Families of America in Politics, a group of Filipino Americans in Las Vegas formed to advocate for families of World War II Filipino Veterans.

He faced First District Congresswoman Shelley Berkley in the November election. In one of the closest races of the cycle, Heller won by 12,100 votes out of almost 900,000 cast. Ultimately, a 21,000-vote margin in Washoe County allowed Heller to win a full term.

Committee assignments

 * Special Committee on Aging
 * Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
 * Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Source: United States Senate

Abortion
In 2006, Heller told the Las Vegas Review-Journal "I'm a Mormon and I teach Sunday school every week, but I do back a woman's right to choose abortion. It is the conservative position." Nevertheless, since being elected to federal office, he has been consistently pro-life.

Card check
Heller opposes the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed legislation that would effectively eliminate secret ballots in union organizing elections and subject employers and employees to mandatory arbitration when negotiating union contracts. In stating his objection to this proposed legislation, Heller said that it could cause the loss of 600,000 jobs within two years of enactment:


 * "This legislation at its core will threaten American jobs and harm small and large businesses alike that are already struggling to make ends meet. In fact, a recent economic study found that if the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, 600,000 jobs could be lost by the end of 2010.  Our country and Nevada cannot afford this.  Any further job losses created by the Employee Free Choice Act would be devastating to Nevada workers who in some communities are facing unemployment rates as high as 15.1%."

Energy
Heller has voted in support of the development of domestic oil, gas and coal. (Nevada has no in-state reserves of coal or natural gas but does produce oil He has voted against the tax policies subsidizing the development of renewable energy.

Banking and auto bailouts
Heller opposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that created the Troubled Asset Relief Program (also known as TARP) to bail out the financial industry. Heller stated the reason he opposed this bill was, "The core of this legislation is still flawed and puts Nevada's taxpayers on the hook to pay for a massive bailout of Wall Street. There are solutions to this problem that do not place current taxpayers and future generations at risk or push our country further in debt."

Heller also opposed the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act of 2008, also known as the auto bailout. Heller stated the reason he opposed this bill was, "Another month, another bailout. Congress is asking the American people again to bailout [sic] another industry in these tough economic times. Congress should focus on real economic reforms that generate jobs instead of continuing to bailout [sic] individual industries with taxpayer dollars. This is nothing more than a band aid that does not fix the much larger economic problems we have in our country."

Healthcare reform
Heller voted against H.R. 3590 and H.R. 4872 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Heller issued the following statement explaining his vote:


 * "Today Congress did a great disservice to the American people. By choosing ideology over their constituency, Congress has empowered the federal government to take control of individual health care choices. Those who voted for this measure stood up for political buyoffs and special deals that benefit a small few while sticking the majority of Americans with higher taxes and higher health care costs. For our children and grandchildren, we will be passing on record debt and lower quality of life. At a time when Americans are asking for jobs, Congress has decided to deliver bigger government and less opportunity."

During the debate prior to the federal healthcare law's passage, Heller led efforts to require two provisions be added to the federal health care law that would require:
 * The use of citizenship verification tools to determine eligibility for taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits
 * Members of Congress to join any government-run healthcare plan proposed in early versions of the healthcare law.

Heller questioned the constitutionality of the law following its passage, and called on Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to join a multi-state lawsuit challenging it.

On January 19, 2011, Heller voted to repeal the federal healthcare law.

Heller is the only person to have voted twice for Paul Ryan's budget plan. He voted for it in the House and again in the Senate.

Opposition to LGBT Rights
In 2007 Heller voted against the Employment Non-discrimination Act that would have prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He also opposes extending civil marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Minimum wage
Heller voted against the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

Western issues
During his tenure in the House, Heller was Vice Chairman of the Western Caucus, playing a leading role in advocating for issues that impact western U.S. states.

Israel
Part of Heller's 2012 campaign platform revolved around his stance on Israel and the nation's relationship with the United States. Heller advocates for American assistance to Israel so that the country will have the ability to defend itself and supports punishments for Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In 2011 Heller introduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011, legislation that reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Personal life
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Heller and his wife Lynne have four children. Heller was a founding board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada and the Western Nevada Community College Foundation. He is an advisory board member for Nevada's Foster Grandparent program.

Electoral history
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