Halo Composer Marty O'Donnell Projected to Lose Nevada House Race

Marty O'Donnell, the former Bungie composer who wrote music for Halo and Destiny, is projected to lose his bid for the US House of Representatives in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. Eurogamer reported the projection on 4 November 2026. The projected winner is the incumbent Democrat, Susie Lee.

A projection is a call made by a news organisation, usually based on how the votes counted so far are split. The Associated Press called the race when Lee held 59.1% of the vote to O'Donnell's 38.6%, with 86% of votes counted. That put Lee more than 51,000 votes ahead.

O'Donnell ran as a Republican. He campaigned on economic improvement, support for small businesses, stronger border security and anti-corruption measures. A central issue in the race was "no tax on tips," a proposal to exempt tipped income from federal tax. Nevada has the highest concentration of tipped workers of any US state, according to the Associated Press.

His earlier career sits behind the campaign. While at Bungie, the studio behind Halo, O'Donnell composed music for Halo, Destiny, Myth and Oni. Bungie fired him in 2014. Many players know his work from those scores, which are still part of the games' identity for fans.

The campaign also drew scrutiny of a different kind. In October, an Associated Press review found that O'Donnell had operated an online forum with posts containing racial slurs and minimisations of Nazi Germany. The report made the race more than a question of policy for some voters.

NBC News reported that the district moved 21.29 points toward Democrats in this race. On election day, O'Donnell's account on X, @MartyTheElder, urged voters to find their polling location at martyforcongress.vote.

The count is the official measure, and states certify results after the vote closes. For now, the story is a former game composer who lost a congressional bid, and a district that has returned its incumbent to Washington by a wide margin.