PAYDAY AT THE PUMP: Buck Unleashes $300K-Plus Ad Blitz Hammering Titus on Gas Taxes

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Republican Carrie Buck is pouring more than $300,000 into Nevada’s airwaves next week with a new television ad hammering longtime Democrat Rep. Dina Titus over gas taxes, energy investments and a quote that has become political kryptonite for the incumbent: “You’ve got to raise the gas tax.”

The new spot, titled “Her Payday,” opens with Buck approving the message before immediately cutting to Titus’ own words.

“Dina Titus wants you paying more at the pump,” the narrator says, followed by the now-familiar video of Titus declaring, “Well, you’ve got to, uh, raise the gas tax.”

The spot repeatedly uses the Titus clip while accusing the congresswoman of voting against gas-tax relief and benefiting financially from energy-related investments. 

“Titus voted against gas tax relief, called raising the gas tax a real investment, an investment that hits your wallet while padding hers, collecting tens of thousands from oil and gas investments,” the narrator says.

Then comes the kicker: “Dina Titus, your pain at the pump, her payday.”

The gas-tax footage is not creative editing. Titus has repeatedly advocated increasing the tax during her political career. During a 2020 infrastructure discussion about financing the Highway Trust Fund, Titus said lawmakers had to raise the gas tax and argued subsequent increases should occur automatically. She has previously described a gas-tax increase as a “real investment.” 

Her record reaches back even further. As a Nevada state senator in 1997, Titus voted for Assembly Bill 525, legislation that removed a four-cent cap from Nevada’s existing fuel-tax backfill mechanism. Under current Nevada law, specified reductions in federal motor-fuel taxes can trigger corresponding increases in the state tax. 

Titus has pushed back by pointing to her 2022 co-sponsorship of legislation that would have temporarily suspended the federal gasoline tax. Republicans counter that her Nevada vote undercuts that defense because the state backfill mechanism could have replaced a federal reduction with a higher state levy. 

Buck’s advertising muscle is becoming a story of its own.

Nevada Independent reporter Mini Racker reported this week that Buck has already spent roughly $1.34 million across linear television and streaming, with more than $300,000 scheduled for the coming week. That already eclipses what Republican Mark Robertson’s campaign spent on advertising during either of his 2022 or 2024 challenges to Titus, according to the report.

The contrast with previous cycles is stark. In 2024, national Republican groups largely abandoned NV-01, spending no money on advertising to support Robertson after investing heavily in the district two years earlier. 

Buck is now running a substantially different campaign.

She has outraised Titus for three consecutive quarters, and the money is no longer sitting in a campaign account. It is being converted into television and streaming firepower designed to ensure Nevada voters hear Titus talking about higher gas taxes every time they turn on a screen.

For Buck, “Her Payday” makes the closing argument brutally simple: Nevada families feel the pain when they fill their tanks, while Titus has spent decades in government defending the taxes attached to the pump.

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!