Dean Heller Papers

Dean Arthur Heller was born to Janet MacNelly and Charles Alfred "Jack" Heller on May 10, 1960, in Castro Valley, California. Before his first birthday, his family, including his five siblings, relocated to Carson City, Nevada where he was raised. He graduated from Carson High School in 1978 and the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1985. Soon after completing his degree, Heller returned home to Nevada.

Heller was first elected to the Nevada State Assembly, representing Carson City, in 1990. He served as an assemblyman until 1994 when he was elected as the Nevada Secretary of State. During his time as Secretary of State, from 1994-2007, he successfully implemented the use of an auditable paper trail for electronic voting machines, making Nevada the first state in the nation to do so. In 2005, Heller decided to run for soon-to-be-open U. S. House of Representatives seat after incumbent Jim Gibbons opted to run for Nevada Governor. Heller won the election, defeating Democrat Jill Derby by a 49 to 46 percent margin, one of the closest races since the district's creation in 1983.

From 2007-2011, Heller served as the Vice Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus as well as on the Committee on Ways and Means. Additionally, he served on two subcommittees: Income Security and Family Support and Select Revenue Measure. On May 9, 2011, Heller was appointed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval to fill the vacancy left by Senator John Ensign's resignation. In 2012, Heller ran for the Senate and was elected on a 45.9 to 44.7 percent margin defeating Representative Shelley Berkley.

While in the Senate, Heller served on the following committees and subcommittees: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Subcommittees: Economic Policy as Chair; Housing, Transportation and Community Development; and Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection), Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Subcommittees: Aviation Operations, Safety and Security; Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet; Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security; Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security), Committee on Finance (Subcommittees: Taxation and IRS Oversight; Health Care; and Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy as Chair), and Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

In 2018, Heller ran for a second term in the U.S. Senate. He was challenged by Representative Jacky Rosen (Democrat) of Las Vegas for the seat. Although Heller secured President Donald Trump's endorsement, he was eventually defeated by Rosen on a 50 to 45 percent margin.