With the Nevada filing deadline just a week and a half away, state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus appears to have the 3rd district Democratic primary race to herself.

Titus announced late last week that she would run against Rep. Jon Porter (R) in the suburban Las Vegas district after former Clark County prosecutor Robert Daskas (D) abruptly ended his campaign a few days earlier. After Titus entered the race (with the strong support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee), the only other Democrat who was running, wealthy businessman Andrew Martin, announced that he was ending his House bid and would instead run for the state Assembly.

Martin, a wealthy self-funder who had loaned his House campaign about $300,000 as of March 31, hadn’t been considered much of a threat for Daskas or Titus. But his departure from the race means that Titus and her late-starting campaign can concentrate on fundraising for the general election and not have to worry about spending resources on an August primary.

Porter reported more than $1 million in cash on hand at the end of the first quarter.

At her announcement Thursday, Titus said that the late start of her campaign would not be too much of a problem because she is just coming off a 2006 statewide gubernatorial race — which she lost to then-Rep. Jim Gibbons (R) — and because she is already receiving support from national Democratic groups.

“I raised more money in the last six weeks in the last campaign than I did in the first year and a half, so I’m, you know, ready to go,” Titus said, according to news reports. “It’s not like I don’t have a list in place; I’m going to have help nationally. I think you’ll be surprised when you see that first [campaign finance] report that we’re competitive.”

— John McArdle