Primary votes counted; November general election shapes up
Nearly all of the ballots in Nevada’s 2020 primary election have been counted as of Wednesday, painting a clear picture for most of the runoff contests in the upcoming general election.
More than 29 percent of the state’s active registered voters — 478,598 people — cast a ballot in this year’s primary, making it one of the strongest primary turnouts in the past two decades. Turnout has cracked 30 percent just twice since 2000: 2006 and 2010. Both of those primary elections featured contested gubernatorial races.
The final, unofficial turnout will grow slightly on Thursday before the certification process begins.
Clark County still has about 1,000 ballots left to count as of Wednesday morning, spokesman Dan Kulin said. These came from voters who registered to vote on or after May 22. The county had to confirm these voters did not also vote in another county before counting them in Clark, Kulin said. They will be included in Thursday’s final update.
The last batch may yet change a handful of candidate pools or even decide a Nevada state Senate seat, as Democrats Roberta Lange and Ellen Spiegel are separated by just 129 votes in the winner-take-all primary for the 7th District, which rests entirely in Clark County. Spiegel led the race early on.
But most of the races — including all of the state’s congressional contests — for the Nov. 3 general election are set.
Congress
Republican Joyce Bentley beat out the field in the 1st District by about 6 percentage points, setting up a rematch with Democratic incumbent Rep. Dina Titus.
Dan Rodimer’s margin of victory in the 3rd District Republican primary has grown to nearly 13 percentage points, or 11,500 votes, to set up a match with incumbent Democrat Rep. Susie Lee in what’s likely to be the state’s most competitive congressional race.
Former Assemblyman Jim Marchant earned about 35 percent of the vote and a 7-point victory in a crowded 4th District Republican primary. He will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Steven Horsford.
Supreme Court
Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Kristina Pickering kept her seat with an outright primary victory, but the race for the vacant Seat D will head to a runoff between Douglas Herndon and Ozzie Fumo.
Legislature
Richard McArthur holds a slim 133-vote lead over Donnie Gibson in the Republican primary for the state Assembly’s 4th District. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Connie Munk in a district in which Democrats hold just a 403-voter registration advantage.
In the 2nd Assembly District, Radhika “RPK” Kunnel leads Jennie Sherwood by 224 votes in the Democratic primary. The winner will face Republican Heidi Kasama, who easily won her primary for the vacant seat leading a district in which registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by fewer than 800.
Mesquite city Councilwoman Annie Black easily defeated incumbent Assemblyman Chris Edwards by more than 20 percentage points in the winner-take-all Republican primary.
Jill Dickman easily won the Republican primary for the Assembly’s 31st District. She will face Democratic incumbent Richard “Skip” Daly in a district that leans slightly Republican.
In the 37th Assembly District, Republican Andy Matthews captured the nomination to face incumbent Democrat Shea Backus, who defeated Marchant in his 2018 re-election bid by fewer than 200 votes.
Liz Becker easily won the Democratic primary in the state Senate’s 18th District, setting up a runoff against incumbent Republican Scott Hammond for a district with only a slight Republican lean.
County Commission
In Clark County, District A Commissioner Michael Naft easily won his Democratic primary and will face Republican Michael Thomas. Democrats hold a registration advantage of more than 13,000 voters in District A.
Former Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller easily won the Democratic primary for District C and will face Republican and Las Vegas Councilman Stavros Anthony in a district that also favors a Democrat by about 13,000 registered voters.
Assemblyman and Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II won the District D primary by a wide margin and will not face a Republican challenger in November, though several nonpartisans have entered the race.
Each Nevada county has until Friday to count its votes. Late-arriving absentee ballots must have been postmarked by June 9 and received by Tuesday in order to be counted.
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Contact Rory Appleton at rappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.