The 2020 primary election is finally at an end but due to the switch to an all absentee ballot system, a decision made by Nevada’s election officials in an attempt to thwart the spread of COVID-19, official results for the election will not be available for more than a week.
As detailed in a news release from the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office, under the provisions of the law, Nevada’s county clerks are required to count all ballots postmarked by June 9 and received within seven days of that date. In addition, county clerks also have 10 calendar days after an election to certify the results and therefore, “…election results will not be finalized until June 19, 2020,” the new release explained.
The release also outlined the timeline for the initial reporting of election results, with the first round of figures set to be released as of 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9. Updates were to be posted throughout the night, until midnight. Those numbers could not be included in this publication due to press deadlines.
However, additional results will be posted tomorrow, June 11 and these will be included in the Friday edition of the Pahrump Valley Times. Updated results will continue to be posted through June 17, with the official results set to be announced on June 19.
As of Monday, June 8, the Nye County Clerk’s Office had received over 8,000 ballots from Nye County residents, out of approximately 30,000 registered voters. This is comparable to a total turnout of just over 8,600 voters in the 2018 primary election.
The 2020 primary election saw a variety of offices on the ballot, including Nevada Congressional District 4, Nevada Supreme Court seats B and D, Nevada State Board of Education District 4, Nevada State Assembly District 36, Nye County Commission Districts 1, 2 and 3 and Nye County School District Board of Trustees Area VI.
The partisan race for Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District had the largest field of contenders for Nye County voters’ consideration, with eight Republicans and six Democrats seeking their party’s nomination.
Republican candidates for Congress included Rosalie Bingham, Leo Blundo, Jim Marchant, Charles Navarro, Sam Peters, Randi Reed, Lisa Song Sutton and Rebecca Wood.
Democratic contenders for Congress included George Brucato, Chris Colley, Gabrielle “Brie” d’Ayr, Jennifer Eason, incumbent Steven Horsford and Gregory Kempton.
The Republican and Democratic nominees for Congress will continue their campaign into the general election, where they will vie against each other as well as Libertarian Jonathan Royce Esteban and Independent American Party candidate Barry Rubinson.
The partisan race for Nye County Commissioner District 1 saw Trevor Dolby, Liandra Dutton, Tim Gamble, Richard “Dick” Gardner and Bruce Jabbour on the primary ballot for the Republican nomination. The winner of the primary will face nonpartisan candidate Darryl Lackey in the general election.
For commission district 2, the primary is the deciding factor, as only two candidates, both Republicans, registered to run for that seat. Incumbent John Koenig is hoping he secured a second term while former commissioner Frank Carbone is aiming to recapture the seat he held three and a half years ago.
Commission district 3’s primary election included four Republican candidates, Louis Baker, incumbent Donna Cox, Deanna O’Donnell and John Wehrly. The winner of this contest will battle it out with Independent American Party candidate Lance Schaus in the general.
Nevada Assembly District 36 is another race that will be determined solely by the results of the 2020 primary, with Republican contenders Greg Hafen II, who currently holds the office, and Dr. Joseph Bradley the only two to file for the office.
Nevada Supreme Court seats B and D are nonpartisan races.
Three candidates were on the ballot for the Supreme Court Seat B office, including Thomas Christensen, incumbent Kristina Pickering and Esther Rodriguez.
For Supreme Court Seat D, candidates included Ozzie Fumo, Douglas Herndon and Erv Nelson.
Nevada State Board of Education District 4 is a nonpartisan race that includes three candidates as well, Rene Cantu, incumbent Mark Newburn and Vincent Richardson.
Nye County School District Area VI is another nonpartisan race, with Aaron Compton, Oren Hampton, incumbent Mark Hansen and Liese Peterson all on the ballot. However, Peterson dropped out of the race but her name still appeared on the ballot as the decision to discontinue her campaign was not made by the official deadline to withdraw.
If a candidate in either of these nonpartisan races manages to garner more than 50 percent of the vote, they will be declared the winner. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.
Several other elected offices are up for grabs in 2020, including Nevada State Senate District 19, Nevada State Assembly District 32 and Amargosa Valley Town Board. However, due to the limited number of candidates who filed to run for those seats, these races were not part of the primary election and instead they head directly to the general election, set for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com