Nevada

Congressional Races:
Districts 1 | 2

Population (1994): 1,457,000 (up 21.2% from 1990), 0.6% of U.S. total

Voting-age population: 1,088,000; 1994 turnout, 35%

Median age: 33.3 years

Median household income: $35,871 ($3,607 above U.S. median)

Unemployment: 4.6% (1% below U.S. average, March 1996)

Last presidential election:

Clinton (D): 37%

Bush (R): 35%

Perot (I): 26%

Congressional delegation: Two Democrats, two Republicans

Though it may be Perot country, Mother Nature did little to draw people to this desert valley, providing almost no water and no arable land. But when people began to scratch below the surface, they discovered there was a reason to move to Nevada: silver. Miners came in the mid-1800s, and visions of a different kind of silver drew even more speculators when casinos began to open in the 1960s. Nevada is traditionally Democratic, but an influx of newcomers in the 1980s has given Republicans a foothold here. But however inhospitable the Sagebrush State may be to farmers (and moderates), Democrats see the Second District's open seat as fertile ground.

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