Mark Amodei

Mark Eugene Amodei (born June 12, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district since 2011.

Amodei graduated from Carson High School in 1976, where he was student class president.

He graduated from the University of Nevada in 1980 with a B.A. in political science, and received his J.D. degree from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1983.

When Amodei entered the U.S. Army, he had not yet passed the bar exam, so he was assigned to an artillery unit.

He attended The JAG School at the University of Virginia and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps after passing the bar.

He became an Army JAG Corps officer prosecuting criminal matters, an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant Post Judge Advocate.

He was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.

He served with the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps from 1983 to 1987.

He returned home to become an attorney with the law firms Allison MacKenzie in Carson City and Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw and Ferrario (now Kaempfer Crowell) in Reno.

He served as a lawyer with Allison, MacKenzie from 1987 to 2004 and with Kummer from 2004 to 2007.

In 1996, Amodei was elected to the Nevada Assembly, representing Carson City.

Amodei was named the Outstanding Freshman Legislator in 1997.

In 1998, he ran for the Nevada Senate in the Capital District.

He defeated incumbent Democratic State Senator Ernie Adler, 52%–48%.

In 2002, he was reelected to a second term with 84% of the vote.

He was selected to serve as president pro tempore of the Nevada Senate from 2003 to 2008.

In 2003 Amodei and Terry Care co-authored a plan to increase taxes in Nevada by $1 billion.

The plan was offered as an alternative to Governor Kenny Guinn's plan, which called for over $1 billion in revenue increases.

The final plan raised taxes by $873 million.

In 2003, Amodei voted against a tort reform bill that would have changed Nevada's medical liability law.

He was the only Republican senator to vote against the bill.

Amodei has served on the Legislative Commission, the Education Commission of the States, the Public Lands Committee, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Legislative Oversight Committee, as vice chair of the Governor's Task Force on Access to Public Health Care, as chair of the Education Technology Committee, and as a member of the Nevada Supreme Court's committee on court funding.

Amodei ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate against Democrat Harry Reid, the Majority Leader.

He dropped out before election day, as State Assemblywoman Sharron Angle won the primary and lost the general election to Reid.

In 2006, he was reelected to a third term with 78% of the vote.

He served as president of the Nevada Mining Association from 2007 to 2008.

As a lawyer, Amodei has been a sole practitioner since 2009.

In 2009, Amodei supported a proposal to expand collective bargaining rights for state workers, who he believed were unfairly treated during the budget process.

In 2009, Amodei sponsored a bill that would have allowed for a gas tax increase in Washoe County; the plan gained public approval in an advisory vote.

Amodei chaired the Nevada Republican Party from 2010 until 2011, when he stepped down to run in the September 13, 2011, special election to succeed Dean Heller (who had been appointed to the U.S. Senate) as the U.S. representative for the state's 2nd congressional district.

On September 13, 2011, Nevada's 2nd congressional district elected Amodei to replace U.S. Representative Dean Heller.

Heller had been appointed to fill John Ensign's seat in the U.S. Senate after Ensign resigned from the position.

Amodei announced his bid for the congressional seat in May 2011.

The next month, he won the Republican nomination by taking 221 out of 323 ballots.

In the primary, he defeated State Senator Greg Brower, who received 56 votes, and U.S. Navy veteran Kirk Lippold, who received 46 votes.

The only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation since 2019, Amodei served in the Nevada Assembly from 1997 to 1999 and in the Nevada Senate, representing the Capital District, from 1999 to 2011.

Amodei is generally considered a moderate Republican, supporting programs such as DACA throughout his tenure.

In 2019, Amodei became the dean of Nevada's congressional delegation and its sole Republican member after Heller lost his bid for reelection to the Senate.

Amodei was born in Carson City, Nevada, the son of Joy LaRhe (née Longero) and Donald Mark Amodei.

His father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, and one of his maternal great-grandfathers was Italian.