Edwards trails as most incumbents lead in Assembly primaries

Mesquite City Councilwoman Annie Black looks to be on her way to unseating three-term Assemblyman Chris Edwards in the Republican primary for the District 19 seat.

According to results released Wednesday morning, Black is 431 votes ahead of Edwards and is leading by more than 15 percentage points.

No Democratic, third-party or nonpartisan candidate is running for the seat, which covers the northeast Las Vegas Valley and eastern Clark County, so the primary contest will determine who represents the district for the two-year term.

The first batch of results for Tuesday’s primary was delayed until 2:30 a.m. Wednesday after long lines at the limited number of voting centers saw some people waiting for more than seven hours to vote. The totals included ballots received and counted before Election Day. Nevada’s primary election was done mostly by mail because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, and the results are not expected to be final for at least one week.

Edwards is the only incumbent facing a primary battle who trails the challenger.

Assemblyman Greg Hafen, who was appointed to represent Assembly District 36 after deceased brothel owner Dennis Hof won election in 2018, holds a 5 percentage point lead over challenger Joe Bradley for the district that covers part of northwest Clark County as well as most of Nye and Lincoln counties.

The other incumbents — Democrats Rochelle Nguyen (District 10), Maggie Carlton (District 14), Howard Watts (District 15) and Republicans Lisa Krasner (District 26) and Robin Titus (District 38) all hold comfortable leads as of Wednesday morning.

Assembly District 2

A tight race is developing in the Democratic primary for the Assembly District 2 seat, which has been held by longtime Republican Assemblyman John Hambrick, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Jennie Sherwood leads by just 90 votes over Radhika Kunnel, a margin that comes out to just about 4 percentage points. In third currently is Eva Littman, who is about 220 votes behind Sherwood.

On the Republican side, Las Vegas Realtor Heidi Kasama is leading the crowded field of candidates by a substantial margin. Kasama holds 48 percent of the current vote tallies, and her closest challenger, commercial real estate broker Erik Sexton, has garnered roughly 23.3 percent of the votes.

Assembly District 4

Former Assemblyman Richard McArthur, who previously represented the district for three terms, holds a moderate lead in the Republican primary race against businessman Donnie Gibson.

Gibson, who was endorsed by the Assembly Republican Caucus, has garnered 45 percent of the vote and trails McArthur by 240 votes.

McArthur previously represented the district from 2008-2012 and 2016-2018. He lost to Democrat Connie Munk in 2018 by 120 votes.

Assembly District 5

Republican Mack Miller holds a moderate 154-vote lead in the three-way Republican primary in Assembly District 5. Miller currently leads nearest competitor Mitchell Tracy by roughly 154 votes, which equates to about 11 percentage points.

Miller was found guilty of deserting his fellow soldiers in the Iraq War and is making another run for the seat after losing in the 2018 primary.

The winner will face off against Democratic incumbent Brittney Miller, who is not related to Mack Miller.

Assembly District 6

Shondra Summers-Armstrong, a management analyst with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and chief steward with SEIU Local 1107, is leading the race for Assembly District 6 by a more than 2-to-1 margin, with 70.8 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.

On the Republican side, businesswoman and Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce founder Katie Duncan holds a similar lead over Geraldine Lewis, with 69.5 percent of the vote.

The majority-minority district spans the Las Vegas-North Las Vegas border west of downtown Las Vegas and is currently represented by William McCurdy II, the state Democratic party chairman who is running for Clark County Commission.

Assembly District 7

Cameron “C.H.” Miller leads John Stephens III with 69.2 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary race to replace Dina Neal in Assembly District 7. Neal is running for state Senate this year.

Assembly District 16

Cecelia Gonzalez, a doctorate student and substitute teacher, leads among the four Democrats running to represent the open Assembly District 16, home to the Strip, UNLV and McCarran International Airport. She has 47.5 percent of the vote, while her nearest challenger, Joseph Sacco, currently sits at 22.6 percent.

Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, who currently represents the district, is not seeking another term.

Assembly District 18

Master arborist Lisa Ortega holds a lead of just over 5 percentage points over Venicia Considine in the race to replace five-term Assemblyman Richard Carrillo, who is running for state Senate this year.

Ortega is up by 105 total votes as of Wednesday, and if that lead holds it would be a substantial upset as Considine holds several major endorsements, including from the Assembly Democratic Caucus and numerous major unions such as the Culinary Local 226, SEIU Local 1107 and Professional Firefighters of Nevada.

Assembly District 20

In the race to replace Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel, who is running for state Senate, Emily Smith has a narrow lead over physician and attorney David Orentlicher in the four-way Democratic primary. Smith has 43.1 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning compared to 39.9 percent for Orentlicher, who was endorsed by the Assembly Democratic Caucus. The total vote difference sits at just 70 votes.

Assembly District 21

In the two-person Democratic primary race for Assembly District 21, which covers parts of Clark County and Henderson, Elaine Marzola has 71.8 percent of the current vote tallies and looks to be well on her way to representing the Democrats in the race to replace Democratic Assemblyman Ozzie Fumo, who is running for state Supreme Court.

The winner will face off against Republican Cherlyn Arrington in the general election in November.

Assembly District 29

Local dentist Steven Delisle held a comfortable lead in the Republican primary race for Assembly District 29. He held 59.3 percent of the vote over Troy Archer as of Tuesday night.

The winner will face incumbent Democrat Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen.

Assembly District 35

With 67.3 percent of the vote, Jay Calhoun has a 2-to-1 lead over Claudia Kintigh in the Republican primary for Assembly District 35 as of Wednesday morning. The winner will run against Democratic incumbent Michelle Gorelow, who was first elected in 2018.

Assembly District 37

In what was expected to be one of the more competitive Assembly primary races, Andy Matthews holds a nearly 20 percentage point lead in the four-person field in the Republican primary for the Summerlin Assembly district.

Matthews, the former president of Nevada Policy Research Institute, holds a nearly 600-vote lead over the nearest competitior, former Las Vegas television reporter Michelle Mortensen.

The winner will move on to the general race for one of the state’s most competitive districts to face Democratic incumbent Shea Backus, who was first elected in 2018 after winning the seat by 135 votes.

A previous version of this story misidentified the location of District 19.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.