By Mark Robison, Reno Gazette Journal, March 16, 2024
More than 150 candidates filed for races in the past two weeks for everything from the U.S. Congress down to the Verdi TV District.
They will be on Washoe County primary ballots in June.
One interesting filing happened right before the 5 p.m. Friday deadline. Republican Sharron Angle, who nearly beat Democrat Harry Reid in 2010’s contentious U.S. Senate race, filed for a Nevada Senate seat.
While a few races in safe districts won’t be competitive, most candidates face of gauntlet of challengers.
See the full list below.
Races to watch
• U.S. Senate: Sam Brown is the front-runner in this Republican primary, with more money in his campaign chest than all of his many opponents put together.
The other Republicans in the race have painted him as too centrist and too establishment. They’ve made no secret of hoping to defeat him from the right in June.
• Nevada Senate: Two powerhouse Reno Democrats – Naomi Duerr and Angie Taylor – are going head-to-head for the District 15 seat held by Republican Heidi Seevers Gansert, who decided not to run for re-election.
The district – which covers the western side of Reno plus Sun Valley – was redrawn in 2021 so that it now leans more Democratic.
Duerr has two years left before being termed out of serving on the Reno City Council, while Angie Taylor is a Nevada Assemblywoman and former Washoe County School Board president.
The winner between those two will face one of three Republicans in November: Angle, Michael Ginsburg or Charles Mark Neumann.
• Washoe school board: With a new superintendent being sought after the last one resigned abruptly and a half-million dollars recently approved to fight lawsuits by incumbent Jeff Church, the school board election is once again likely to get heated.
Board president Beth Smith faces three candidates. Church also faces three, including Christine Hull, who’s expected to be a strong challenger. And Trustee Diane Nicolet is going up against six candidates, one of whom is “education crusader” Paul White.
Crowded races
Thirteen candidates will compete in the U.S. Senate Republican primary with the winner taking on the presumptive Democratic candidate, incumbent Jacky Rosen, in November.
Six Republicans are running for Washoe County’s District 4 commission seat covering Sparks, Spanish Springs and Hidden Valley, while six are running for Washoe County School Board’s at-large District G race.
As in years past, many people put their hat in the ring for Reno City Council. Twenty-four are seeking four seats.
The most crowded Reno council race is for the newly created Ward 6. It covers south Reno from Longley Lane at Double R Boulevard down to Geiger Grade. Eight candidates want to be its first representative.
How Nevada’s primary works
Primary election day is June 11, with early voting May 25 to June 7.
Nevada has a closed primary system. That means nonpartisans only get to vote for races in the primary where candidates do not run as a member of a political party, such as city council and school board.
Registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in nonpartisan races and in races where there’s more than one candidate running for their party’s nomination.
In general, if there are two or more candidates of a single party in the primary, only the top vote-getter in each party moves on to the November election.
If there’s only one Democratic or Republican candidate running for a race in the primary, they automatically move ahead to November.
Full list of candidate filings for Washoe County 2024 primary
The following list comes from the Nevada Secretary of State’s website as of just after Friday’s 5 p.m. cutoff. Candidates have until March 26 to withdraw.
Candidates listed as from Libertarian, Independent American and no political party will not be on primary ballots and instead move ahead to the general election.
• Maps: See a state Senate map here, and a state Assembly map here. For Reno, Sparks and Washoe County wards and districts, visit the county’s map page here and click on “all” beneath the jurisdiction you’re interested in.
U.S. Senate
• Democrat: Jacky Rosen (incumbent), Troy Walker
• Republican: Sam Brown, Bill Conrad, Tony Grady, Jeff Gunter, Eddie Hamilton, Ronda Kennedy, Barry Lindemann, Garn Mabey, Jim Marchant, Gary Marinch, Stephanie Phillips, Vincent Rego, Shawn White
• Independent American Party: Janine Hansen
• Libertarian: Christopher Cunningham
• No political party: Joseph Destin, Chris Mazlo, Allen Rheinhart, Edmund Victor Uehling
U.S. House – District 2
• Republican: Mark Amodei (incumbent), Fred Simon
• Independent American Party: Lynn Chapman
• Libertarian: Javi Tachiquin
• No political party: Robert Kidd
State Senate – District 15
• Democrat: Naomi Duerr, Johnny Kerns, Angie Taylor
• Republican: Sharron Angle, Michael Ginsburg, Charles Mark Neumann
State Assembly – District 24
• Democrat: Michael Bellaty, Erica Roth
• Republican: Terisia Kolesnick
State Assembly – District 25
• Democrat: Selena La Rue Hatch (incumbent)
• Republican: Diana Sande
State Assembly – District 26
• Democrat: Scott Savage, Diane Sullivan
• Republican: Richard DeLong (incumbent)
State Assembly – District 27
• Democrat: Heather Goulding, Alex Velto
• Republican: Carmen Ortiz
State Assembly – District 30
• Democrat: Natha Anderson (incumbent)
• No political party: Morgan Kolvet
State Assembly District 31
• Democrat: Stuart MacKie
• Republican: Jill Dickman (incumbent)
State Assembly District 32
• Republican: Jason Bushey, Alexis Hansen (incumbent)
State Assembly District 40
• Democrat: Katherine Ramsey
• Republican: PK O’Neill (incumbent), Drew Ribar
Washoe County Commission – District 1
• Democrat: Alexis Hill (incumbent)
• Republican: Marsha Berkbigler, Melissa Fitch, Eugene Hoover
Washoe County Commission – District 4
• Democrat: Emidio Gonzalez Jr.
• Republican: Clara Andriola (appointed incumbent), Trista Gomez, Tracey Hilton-Thomas, Mark Lawson, John Walter, Randy Zachary
• No political party: Gabriel Christenson, Marsela Kupfersmith
Washoe County School District
Nonpartisan
• District A: Jeff Church (incumbent), Stephanie Flores, Tara Horne, Christine Hull
• District D: Josh Cole, Ronald Dreher, Victoria Myer, Beth Smith (incumbent), Christopher Tabarez
• District E: Cameron Kramer, Beverley Stenehjem, Oscar Williams, Alex Woodley (appointed incumbent)
• District G: Jacqlyn Di Carlo, Monica Lehmann, Diane Nicolet (incumbent), Nathaniel Phillips, Perry Rosenstein, Paul White, Alicia Woo
Reno City Council
Nonpartisan
• Ward 1: Lily Baran, Matthew DeMartini, Darrin Freeman, Jessica Glover, Frank Perez, Arturo Rangel, Kathleen Taylor (appointed incumbent), Tom Van Ruiten
• Ward 3: Juergen Hoehne, Nathaenial Lance, Miguel Martinez (appointed incumbent), Denise Myer, Clifton “Cliff” Young
• Ward 5: Sheila Browning-Peuchaud, Brian Cassidy, Devon Reese (incumbent for at-large seat), Tara Webster
• Ward 6: Brandi Anderson, Michaelangelo Aranda, J M Darcey, Mike Grimm, Tom Heck, William Mantle, Roy Stoltzner
Sparks City Council
Nonpartisan
• Ward 1: Donald Abbott (incumbent), Christine Garvey, Nicolas Lee
• Ward 3: Paul Anderson (incumbent), Marie Baker, Brad Fitch, Andrea Tavener
• Ward 5: Kristopher Dahir (incumbent), Billy Hurt, Joe Rodriguez
Other nonpartisan races on Washoe County’s primary ballot
• Incline Village GID: Mark Case, Mick Homan, Michelle Jezycki, Kevin Sammelman, Harry Swenson, Michaela Tonking (incumbent), Frank Wright
• Gerlach GID: Judy Conley (incumbent), Carl Copek, Tara Holle, Gregory Nielsen, Seth Schrenzel (incumbent)
• North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District: Susan Herron (incumbent), Phillip Klein, Kenneth Leijon
• Palomino Valley GID: Brian DiMambro, Julie Osburn, John Patterson (incumbent), Nevada Story, Jeffrey Swift, Marshall Todd
• Sparks City Attorney: Wes Duncan (incumbent)
• State Board of Education – District 2: Matthew Buehler, Paul Davis, Dorzell King Jr., Angela Orr
• Sun Valley GID: Mark Dunn (incumbent), Carmen Ortiz (incumbent), Michael Revty, Michael Rider (incumbent)
• Verdi TV District: Sophia Banbury (incumbent), Chris Mcauliffe, Kellene Mosconi, Lisa Peterson
• University Regent – District 9: Bret Delaire, Carol Del Carlo (incumbent), Gary Johnson
See judicial candidates:Judges and justices of the peace filed as candidates in January.
Updated with corrections to the school board candidates and to the party affiliation of a county commission candidate.