New faces vie for spots on Board of Regents

Unofficial election results from Wednesday show some candidates for the Nevada System of Higher Education’s 13-member Board of Regents started to separate themselves from the pack.

Results included mail ballots received and counted by the county leading up to Tuesday’s election, as well as in-person votes cast during early voting and on Election Day. Mail ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by the county through Saturday will continue to be counted, and may affect election results.

As of 1:50 a.m., all of the 125 Clark County vote centers were reporting.

Four candidates were seeking the District 6 seat: Heather Brown, former chief of staff for Young Democrats of America; UNLV student Karl Catarata; consultant Jeanine Dakduk; and Brandin Manwill.

Preliminary results showed Brown leading with 45.4 percent of the vote. Dakduk was next with 27.2 percent.

Incumbent Patrick Carter, who was elected in 2016, didn’t run for re-election.

In District 7, former Clark County Commissioner Susan Brager; UNLV master’s degree student Hieu Le; real estate broker David “Coach” Crete; neurosurgeon Dr. Aury Nagy; and publicist and ordained minister M.J. Ivy were seeking to replace incumbent Dr. Mark Doubrava, who couldn’t seek re-election because of term limits.

Brager was leading with 39.7 percent of the vote, followed by Crete with 23.3 percent.

For the District 13 seat, incumbent John Moran — an attorney who was elected to the board in 2016 — faced challengers Stephanie Goodman, an advertising executive and former daughter-in-law of two Las Vegas mayors; and Jennifer Bandiero.

Preliminary results showed Goodman with a slight lead over Moran, with Goodman claiming 41.2 percent of the vote and Moran taking 39.8 percent.

For the District 8 seat — currently occupied by board Chair Cathy McAdoo, who was elected in 2016 and isn’t running for re-election — there are six candidates.

Las Vegas school principal Michelee “Shelly” Crawford was in the lead with about 30.3 percent of the vote.

The seat covers a widespread swath of the state, including part of Clark County, as well as rural Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lincoln, Nye and White Pine counties.

The election comes at a crucial time for the system, which has faced recent turmoil.

Chancellor Melody Rose — who started on the job in 2020 — filed a hostile work environment complaint in fall 2021 naming Board of Regents Chair Cathy McAdoo and Carter, who was vice chair.

McAdoo and Carter temporarily stepped down from their leadership roles while a third-party investigation was underway.

The investigation determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support Rose’s claims of a sex-based hostile work environment.

In April, the Board of Regents voted 9-4 to accept Rose’s resignation and award her $610,000 in severance pay. Last week, the board appointed former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga as acting chancellor.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.