Clark County DA election will exclude majority of voters

That’s because of a 2015 law authored by state Sen. James Settelmeyer which moved candidates from the general election to the primary if the race includes only contenders from one party.

That makes the primary winner the victor based solely on the votes from that party. Voters from other parties get no say in the race because the name of the primary winner only appears on the general election ballot.

New strategy

The DA contest between incumbent Democrat Steve Wolfson and challenger Robert Langford is the only county-wide race that will be decided on June 12. State Senate District 10 and Assembly District 42 also will be decided in the primary because there are only Democratic candidates on the ballot. Another 30 seats throughout Clark County will appear on the November ballot but are effectively decided because there is only one candidate.

“The parties’ argument is it’s a private-party function and people who are not registered with the party aren’t eligible to vote,” said Sondra Cosgrove, a history professor at College of Southern Nevada and president of the League of Women Voters Nevada. “But you’re using taxpayer dollars. You’re basically electing representatives and excluding voters.”

Some voters found a workaround: They change their party affiliation to vote in the primary of their choice, and switch back before the next election.

The campaigns for both men say that affected their strategy because primaries traditionally have lower voter turnout.

“It costs a lot of money to reach a limited amount of people,” said Dan Hart, Langford’s political consultant. “So the other parts of the campaign like social media and the door-to-door canvassing play a larger role in primary elections than they do in general elections.”

Tom Letizia, Wolfson’s campaign manager, said his team is also focused on door-to-door canvassing. And although more Republicans generally vote in primaries, Letizia thinks Democratic turnout will be strong because of contests such as the governor’s race.

“I think this year the races at the top of the ticket will definitely drive turnout for the Democrats,” Letizia said.

Why it changed

This is Nevada’s second election cycle under the current system.

Settelmeyer, R-Minden, said his intention was to make voting in the Silver State more inclusive, but the bill was amended and brought about the change. Settelmeyer said he will propose a revision to the law next year.

“In counties where you don’t have individuals of a certain party wishing to run, it creates a limitation,” Settelmeyer said. “I will bring something back to try to look at reversing this aspect of the system where so many people feel they are disenfranchised.”

Election officials say they got an earful of complaints about the new rules two years ago.

“We heard a fair amount of griping from the rural counties in 2016 about the law change because it meant only Republicans could vote in certain races,” said Wayne Thorley, deputy Secretary of State for elections.

Another Settelmeyer bill from 2015 could also play a factor in this year’s elections. That bill made it so candidates win nonpartisan races if they receive more than 50 percent of the primary vote.

Nine such races are on Clark County ballots this year, including the race for sheriff and a pair of school board races.

Contact Ramona Giwargis at rgiwargis@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4538. Follow @RamonaGiwargis on Twitter.