Daniel George John Tarkanian (born December 18, 1961) is an American attorney, businessman and perennial candidate for elective office.

He is the son of Jerry Tarkanian, a prominent University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) basketball coach, and Lois Tarkanian (née Huter),[4] a Las Vegas City Councilwoman, educator of children with disabilities, administrator, and a co-founder for California's first private school for the deaf.

Tarkanian grew up in three different California cities, (Riverside, Pasadena, and Huntington Beach) as his father progressed in his professional career.

At Bishop Gorman High School, he played both basketball and football, and both sports teams went into the playoffs and won state championships.

After graduating from high school, he spent one year at Dixie College, playing basketball one season for the Rebels, where his team went to the regional playoffs.

On July 31, 2009, a Clark County District Court jury ruled in Tarkanian's favor and awarded him $50,000 in damages.

[14][15] In December 2005, Tarkanian announced his second bid for public office, this time a statewide election for Nevada Secretary of State.

Former Nevada Republican chairwoman Sue Lowden and former assemblywoman Sharron Angle entered the primary field shortly after Tarkanian's announcement and quickly overtook him in the polls.

[21] Tarkanian faced Democratic State Senate majority leader Steven Horsford in the general election.

He won the Republican primary in June 2016,[23] and faced Democrat Jacky Rosen in the November 2016 general election.

[26] On August 8, 2017, Tarkanian announced on Fox News that he would run against incumbent Republican Nevada Senator Dean Heller in the 2018 primary.

[31] On March 16, 2018, hours before the filing deadline and at the request of President Trump, Tarkanian announced that he would be withdrawing from the Senate race and would instead run for Nevada's 3rd congressional district.

Tarkanian ran against incumbent Republican Dave Nelson for District 1 of the Douglas County Commission, which includes the town of Gardnerville.

[36] Tarkanian was a candidate for Nevada's 2nd congressional district in the 2022 election, unsuccessfully challenging Republican incumbent Mark Amodei.

As a candidate, he has spoken in favor of banning taxpayer funding from going to Planned Parenthood and breaking up Big Tech companies through antitrust enforcement.

[37] In June 2012, a federal court issued a $17 million judgment against Tarkanian and his family in a California real estate deal gone bad.

In 2011, Amy Tarkanian was elected chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party, served about eight months, and resigned in February 2012 during her husband's primary campaign.