Trump-backed Republican Marty O'Donnell wins Nevada primary for key House seat

Marty O'Donnell, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary on Tuesday for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, a Las Vegas-area battleground that could help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, U.S. media projected.

The seat, held by Democrat Susie Lee, is among a handful across the country expected to be decisive in determining the balance of power in Congress, with Republicans currently holding a narrow House majority.

The Republican primary featured a competitive, largely self-funded field, including Trump-endorsed video game composer Marty O'Donnell, neurosurgeon Aury Nagy and former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter. A fourth candidate is businesswoman Tera Anderson.

O'Donnell, who loaned his campaign $3 million, is also backed by House Republicans' campaign arm as a member of its "MAGA Majority" program, which supports candidates in battleground districts. Nagy and Gunter have loaned their campaigns $1 million and $750,000, respectively.

The Republican nominee will now challenge Lee or her Democratic rival in a race expected to draw national attention and significant campaign spending ahead of November's elections.

Lee won reelection in 2024 by nearly 3 percentage points even as Trump narrowly carried the district, underscoring its status as a closely divided electorate.

(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Additional reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru. Editing by Howard Goller, Tom Hogue and Mark Potter)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 2:18 AM.