On November 7, 2006, Dean Heller was elected to the United States Congress as Nevada’s Representative for the Second Congressional District. Heller is only the third person to hold this seat since its creation.
Congressman Dean Heller has spent nearly two decades serving the people of Nevada. He served two terms in the State Assembly representing Carson City where he authored legislation making the public employees’ retirement system solvent. Heller provided leadership in his three terms as Nevada’s Secretary of State when Nevada became the first state in the country to implement an auditable paper trail to electronic voting machines.
Heller serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives and has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures, as well as Social Security, unemployment benefits, and Medicare. The Ways and Means Committee is one of only four exclusive committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.
As a former member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Heller is still actively engaged in policies under this Committee’s jurisdiction. Issues such as mining, public land management and preventing wildfires still continue to be top priorities for Congressman Heller. Membership on this committee enabled Heller to foster a strong working relationship with committee members allowing him to move legislation through the committee. This year, Congressman Heller was named Policy Chair of the Western Caucus by his peers. The Western Caucus is comprised of nearly 40 members of Congress who are the primary defenders of balanced public lands access, private property rights and responsible natural resource development in the U.S. House of Representatives. Heller has also been appointed as a Deputy Whip and assigned to the Republican Policy Committee by the House Leadership Team.
Raised in Carson City, Dean Heller grew up with five brothers and sisters and graduated from Carson High School. In 1985 he received a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, specializing in finance and securities analysis, and worked as a stockbroker and as a broker/trader on the Pacific Stock Exchange prior to moving to Carson City with his wife Lynne.
Dean and Lynne have been married for more than twenty years and have raised their four children; Hilary, Harris, Drew, and Emmy in Carson City. The Congressman enjoys stockcar racing, basketball, golf, snowboarding, and attending his children's events.
