2000Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
2000 election for U.S. Senate in Nevada
U.S. Senate · Nevada
John Ensign (R) won with 56.2% of the vote, defeating Ed Bernstein (D) by 15.7 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
John EnsignRepublican · winner
56.2%330,687
Ed BernsteinDemocrat
40.5%238,260
Kathryn RuscoGreen
1.7%10,286
J. J. JohnsonLibertarian
0.9%5,395
Ernie BerghofIndependent
0.4%2,540
Bill GrutzmacherOther party
0.3%1,579
588,747 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 2000
Races before and after
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
Ed BernsteinJohn Ensign
$2.5M
Raised by the campaign
$4.9M
$2.4M
Spent by the campaign
$4.9M
$34.4K
Cash on hand
$104.5K
Other candidates' campaigns: Ernie Berghof $5.7K.
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 2000.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 2000
The candidates
John Ensign (R)Ed Bernstein (D)
Also on the ballot: Kathryn Rusco (Green), 1.7%; J. J. Johnson (Libertarian), 0.9%; Ernie Berghof (Independent), 0.4%; Bill Grutzmacher (Other party), 0.3%