JACOBS: Primary election season is here

If you thought last month’s Nevada presidential caucuses meant the election season was behind us until November, don’t overlook another contest.

Nevada’s primary election isn’t until June 14, but the efforts already are well underway.

The candidate filing period for multiple local elected offices began March 7.

The deadline is nearly here, 5 p.m. March 18.

Offices up for grabs include three seats on the Tonopah Town Board, three seats on the Nye County Commission, three seats on the Nye County School Board and five seats on the recently-formed Northern Nye County Hospital District Board of Trustees.

Esmeralda County faces the same filing deadline for the primary.

Two county commission seats are on this year’s ballot, and three school board seats are up for election, the Esmeralda County Clerk’s Office reports.

February’s presidential caucuses in Nevada were run by the Democratic and Republican parties. The primary election is different.

In Nevada, except in Washoe and Clark counties, the local elections are handled through the county clerks.

“All of the local offices have to file in the clerk’s offices,” Nye County Clerk Sandra Merlino said. “Anything for Nye County can file in my Pahrump office or my Tonopah office.”

Other offices on this year’s ballot include:

■ The U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Harry Reid, who is retiring;

■ The 4th U.S. House District seat held by Republican Cresent Hardy, who seeks a second term;

■ Two seats on the Nevada Supreme Court;

■ Three judgeships on the newly-created Nevada Court of Appeals;

■ Seats in the Nevada Assembly, Nevada Senate and on the Nevada Board of Regents and Nevada Board of Education.

Locally, “the (county) commission races are always hot races,” Merlino said. “We always have two to three if not more individuals file for those.”

Local commissioner Lorinda Wichman has filed for re-election, but more on that in future editions.

Seats on the school board, hospital district and town boards, including Tonopah, Round Mountain and Amargosa Valley, all are non-partisan. So are four seats with the Beatty General Improvement District and the Beatty Water and Sanitation District.

At the most recent Tonopah Town Board meeting, administrative manager Chris Mulkerns reminded people of the March 18 filing deadline.

“That is for anybody who is interested in being a town board member,” Mulkerns said. “You have to fill out the paperwork so you’ll be on the ballot.”

Each of the three Tonopah seats are for four-year terms. Those seats are currently held by Tom Seley, Janet Hatch and Don Kaminski. Their terms expire in December.

Once the June 14 primary election is over, candidates will advance to the 2016 general election on Nov. 8. That’s when Nevadans will join the nation in electing a new president, too.

“It just goes fast,” Merlino said of the election season. “We’re already trying to get our ballot styles together and everything else.”

Check here for updates and stories along the way.

Have a great week.

Contact reporter David Jacobs at djacobs@tonopahtimes.com