Michele Fiore lost her Pahrump justice of the peace seat, but is still being paid

Michele Fiore has lost her seat as a Pahrump Justice of the Peace, but is still collecting a salary.

According to results released by Nye County late Friday, Fiore earned 22 percent of the vote, trailing challengers Michael Foley at 42 percent and Scott Oakley at 25 percent.

Fiore needed 50 percent of the vote to win outright and had to be one of the top two candidates to advance to a run-off election in November.

“Though we fell just short and did not advance to the general election, I remain unbowed and unbroken,” she said in a Facebook post Friday.

She ran while suspended from the bench with pay and facing disciplinary charges. She was pardoned by President Donald Trump in April 2025 after a federal jury found her guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

Federal prosecutors said she raised tens of thousands of dollars for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed with his partner in 2014, then used the money to fund personal expenses including plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding.

Since July 2024, the month she was indicted, she has been paid $194,000 in salary and benefits, according to Nye County Public Communications Manager Arnold Knightly.

The county will continue paying Fiore until the end of her term, unless instructed otherwise, Knightly said.

Fiore has said in public statements that she plans to continue her career and her fight with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which is still pursuing a case against her.

In her concession post, Fiore thanked voters, congratulated opponents and attacked critics.

“We faced election interference by relentless attacks from the biased Judicial Discipline Commission, their media allies, Gavin Newsom, Washington Democrats, Vegas dark money, and their local operatives,” she wrote. “Despite it all, we ran with integrity, stayed true to our message, principles, and campaigned like no one else. We fought hard and we never backed down.”

Asked about her plans for the future, she said in a text message Monday that they were: “The same as they’ve always been(:) love my family, serve my community, build businesses, help people, and stay busy. I’ve got a big life outside my judgeship with no intention of slowing down. You’ll probably see me in Washington, D.C. a bit more often, but I’ve learned something over the years: the best moves are usually the ones people don’t see coming.”

She said her work in Washington involved “a variety of private professional and personal opportunities” that she would discuss publicly if and when appropriate.

And she indicated that she expected to win her battle with the judicial discipline commission.

“The fundamental issue is whether this biased commission can simultaneously act as Investigator, prosecutor and adjudicator while still providing the due process guaranteed under the (C)onstitution,” she wrote. “And they cannot. So I will win.”

The commission said in an emailed statement Monday that it plans to move forward with its case against Fiore.

By the end of election night, it already appeared that voters were rejecting her candidacy. Some said in interviews that although they supported Trump, her guilty verdict deterred them from voting for her.

Initial results also showed her trailing Foley and Oakley.

Foley has served as a pro tem justice of the peace during Fiore’s suspension. Oakley works as a therapist. A fourth candidate, Richard Hamilton, received 9 percent of the vote, according to Friday’s results.

“I wasn’t interested in being a judge anyway,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “I just wanted to make sure she didn’t get it, so I wanted to take votes away from her, and it worked.”

In April, Fiore reported $125,000 in contributions, including a more than $95,000 loan to herself.

Oakley reported just $3,370 in contributions as of April. Foley and Hamilton reported no contributions in the same reporting period.

Although Fiore’s next career move is unclear, she floated the possibility of becoming a federal judge in an interview last year with Republican political operative and fellow Trump pardon recipient Roger Stone.

Asked Monday if she was still interested in the federal bench, Fiore did not answer directly.

“I believe Nevada is best served by a federal judiciary that includes a variety of professional backgrounds and judicial philosophies, and I’ll leave appointments to those charged with making them,” she said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.