GOP effort to protect Lombardo’s veto power appears to be working

Nevada Republicans appear to have been successful in fending off a Democratic supermajority in the Nevada Legislature that would render Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s veto power moot — though several races are still too close to call.

Preliminary election results showed several competitive Senate and Assembly seats that could determine party control of the legislative chambers going more Republicans’ way.

Republicans had to maintain their current seat count in the Senate or pick up just one seat in the Assembly to block a Democratic supermajority, which occurs when one party holds two-thirds of the seats in both chambers, allowing it to override a gubernatorial veto and pass tax and revenue increases without needing a vote from the other side of the aisle.

Some races are still too close to call, though both parties say they’re feeling hopeful.

Many ballots still left to be counted

“Nevada has some of the most accessible voting laws in the nation and, like election cycles in the past, many Democrats in Nevada have been voting by mail in this election,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett in a statement. “There are still thousands of mail ballots in Clark County and across the state that have yet to be counted or received. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory was not called until four days after Election Day in 2022.”

The state Democratic party expressed confidence that once all of the voters are counted, Democrats up and down the ballot will be reelected.

“While we wait for the full results on all of our state’s legislative races, the voters have spoken clearly,” John Burke with the Better Nevada PAC, a pro-Lombardo organization working to help elect Republicans in the Legislature, said in a statement. “There can be no doubt that Nevadans support Governor Lombardo’s agenda for safer communities, school choice, and more federal land for attainable housing. This result is a resounding rejection of one-party rule and a victory for balanced, bipartisan leadership that embraces common sense solutions to the challenges facing our state.”

Republican wins

Republicans saw some wins with key races getting called. Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama won her re-election Tuesday night in 56.4 percent to Ron Nelsen’s 43.6 percent in Assembly District 2. Republican Lisa Cole also defeated Democrat Ryan Hampton in Assembly District 4 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent. Republican Rebecca Edgeworth won her race in Assembly District 35 against Democrat Sharifa Wahab 54.9 percent to 45.1 percent.

In Senate District 5 in Henderson, Republican Sen. Carrie Buck was leading Democratic challenger Jennifer Atlas 54.4 percent to 45.83 percent Tuesday night.

GOP challenger Lori Rogich was ahead of Democratic incumbent Sen. Dallas Harris in Senate District 11 by around 1,800 votes as of Wednesday afternoon. Rogich had 51.4 percent of the votes, and Harris had 48.6.

“Last night, Nevadans resoundingly reaffirmed their support for Governor Lombardo and his balanced, common-sense agenda,” said Lombardo’s spokesperson Elizabeth Ray in a statement. “Like Governor Lombardo, Nevadans want accountability in education, transparency in government, school choice, voter ID, and ethics reforms in Carson City next year.”

Close calls for Democrats

There’s also some unexpectedly close races still up in the air that leave Nevada Democrats more vulnerable. Democratic Speaker Steve Yeager was only ahead by 300 votes as of Wednesday evening in his re-election bid against Republican Erica Neely. Yeager’s Assembly District 9 is 32.6 percent Democrat, 26 percent Republican and 33.3 percent nonpartisan, according to its 2023 demographic profile.

In another surprisingly close race, Assemblyman Max Carter was 260 votes behind his Republican challenger Nancy Roecker in Assembly District 12, which is made up of 37.3 percent Democrats, 30.9 percent nonpartisans and 24.9 percent Republicans.

Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, was around 230 votes behind her Republican opponent, Rafael Arroyo in Assembly District 41. Assemblywoman Shea Backus is only 400 votes ahead of Republican David Brog in Assembly District 37.

Democratic Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola was neck-and neck with her opponent, April Arndt, who was ahead by 77 votes Wednesday afternoon, and in Assembly District 29, Democrat Joe Dalia was ahead of Republican Annette Dawson by 2.2 percentage points, or 650 votes.

“Nevada Democrats have built an overwhelming ground game that was designed to win close races, and we have a massive staff and volunteer presence on the ground who began curing ballots weeks ago and are working to ensure that every vote is counted,” Barrett said in a statement.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.