Titus reports raising $254,000 in first quarter of 2010

Rep. Dina Titus raised about $254,000 for her re-election bid during the first three months of 2010, her campaign said Tuesday.

That's nearly $100,000 more than her likely Republican opponent in the general election, Joe Heck, whose campaign said he raised about $160,000 in January, February and March.

Titus reported having more than $900,000 cash in her campaign coffers now out of a total $1.3 million raised so far this election cycle. Her latest quarterly fundraising effort puts her on pace to raise around $2 million in all to defend her seat if her past ability to raise money is any indication.

Outside groups also are spending money in the race. Titus' campaign estimates such groups opposed to the health care law she voted for have spent $1.3 million to run ads against her to date.

A House freshman, Titus is in a tough re-election race in the third Congressional district where she's the first Democrat to win the seat. Titus is running slightly behind Heck, according to the latest poll commissioned by the Review-Journal. The Mason-Dixon survey showed Heck leading Titus with 49 percent support of Nevada voters compared with 44 percent with a margin of error of 6 percentage points.

Heck, a former state senator and an emergency room doctor, lost re-election in 2008 to a little-known Democrat who like Titus rode a Barack Obama Democratic Party wave to victory.