Marchant, Ford leading in races for secretary of state, AG

RENO — Republican former Assemblyman Jim Marchant held a very narrow lead over Democrat Cisco Aguilar in the race for Nevada secretary of state Wednesday night.

Preliminary voting numbers showed Marchant with 48.2 percent to Aguilar’s 47.7 percent as of 8 p.m. Aguilar had been leading in the race. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by Saturday could change those totals.

In the race for attorney general, Aaron Ford was leading his Republican opponent, Sigal Chattah, 50.8 percent to 45.9 percent.

The race for secretary of state has been closely watched, as the winner will have the ability to determine much of how elections are conducted in Nevada.

Marchant has repeatedly and without evidence said there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election, including in his own win in the Republican primary. He has also advocated for hand-counting ballots and against universal mail-in ballots.

Aguilar has said he wants to introduce a bill draft request focused on protecting election workers.

Libertarian Ross Crane and Janine Hansen of the Independent American Party are also listed on the ballot in the secretary of state’s race.

Ford, a former Nevada state senator who has served as attorney general since 2018, has received the endorsement of a number of Republicans in the state, including former state Republican Party chair Amy Tarkanian and former state Senate leader Michael Roberson, with whom he feuded frequently during their time in the Legislature.

Chattah, a Las Vegas attorney, came to statewide prominence in 2020 after she filed multiple lawsuits against the state related to pandemic restrictions.

She faced criticism this year when leaked texts showed her saying that Ford “should be hanging from a (expletive) crane.” Ford, who is Black, said the remark was racist, an allegation Chattah denied, saying she uses the phrase all the time without racial connotations.

Libertarian John Kennedy was running against Chattah and Ford for the position, although he does not qualify for the job under the law, since he’s not a member of the State Bar of Nevada. A lawsuit to remove him from the ballot on that basis was filed too late, and Kennedy claims he was told by a filing clerk that he could run for the job.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.