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Notable Nevada races, 2016
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Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State Assembly • State judges • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Candidate ballot access |
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| Notable Nevada Races | |
|---|---|
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| Primary | June 14, 2016 |
| General | November 8, 2016 |
| 2016 Notable Races | |
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| Choose a state below: | |
Ballotpedia identified 18 notable 2016 Nevada state legislative races, 10 of which were primary races and eight of which were general election races. The Nevada State Senate was also one of 20 battleground chambers Ballotpedia tracked in the November 2016 election.
Overview
- Main articles: Nevada State Assembly elections, 2016 and Nevada State Senate elections, 2016
Heading into the general election, Nevada was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.
State Assembly likely to remain Republican
All 42 seats in the Nevada State Assembly were up for election in 2016. The chamber was likely to remain Republican after 2016, as Democrats had to pick up six seats to gain the majority.
State Senate one of 20 battleground chambers
- Main article: State legislative battleground chambers, 2016
Ballotpedia identified the Nevada State Senate as one of 20 battleground chambers. A total of 11 seats of the chamber's 21 seats were up for election in 2016, and Republicans held just a one-seat majority.
From 1993 to 2008, Republicans held the state Senate. Democrats recaptured the state Senate in 2008 and held the chamber until 2014 when Republicans took back the chamber.
| Partisan breakdown of the Nevada Legislature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Republicans | Democrats | Libertarians | Vacancies |
| Nevada Assembly | 23 seats | 16 seats | 1 seat | 2 seats |
| Nevada Senate | 10 seats | 9 seats | - | 2 seats |
Tax bill was a major issue in Republican primaries
Taxes were a major issue in the Republican primary contests. A bill that will raise and extend $1.4 billion in taxes primarily to fund K-12 education in the state was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R). Republicans who voted in favor of the plan received strong criticism from more conservative Republicans, many of whom challenged those incumbents in primaries.
Notable primary elections
State Assembly District 22 - Primary election
| Two Republicans and two Democrats competed for an open seat left by the GOP incumbent. |
Incumbent state Rep. Lynn Stewart (R) declined to run for re-election. Keith Pickard (R) defeated Richard Bunce (R), who challenged Stewart in 2014, in the Republican primary contest. Luis Aguirre-Insua (D) defeated Mark W. Isquith (D) in the Democratic primary contest.
Bunce, who lost to Stewart in the 2014 Republican primary by roughly 670 votes, opposed the $1.4 billion tax bill. Pickard, a Republican backed by party leaders in the legislature, said he supports the tax bill.[1][2]
State Assembly District 36 - Primary election
| The Republican incumbent was challenged for his vote in favor of a $1.4 billion tax bill. |
Incumbent state Rep. James Oscarson (R) ran for re-election. He defeated Rusty Stanberry (R) and Tina Trenner (R) in the Republican primary contest. Oscarson facedDennis Hof (Lib.) in the general election.
Stanberry and Trenner, both of whom signed an anti-tax pledge spearheaded by state Rep. Brent Jones (R), challenged Oscarson for his vote in favor of the $1.4 billion tax bill.[1]
State Assembly District 37 - Primary election
| The Republican incumbent was challenged for his vote in favor of a $1.4 billion tax bill. |
Incumbent state Rep. Glenn Trowbridge (R) ran for re-election. He was defeated by Jim Marchant (R) in the Republican primary contest. Sean D. Lyttle (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Marchant, a business owner, challenged Trowbridge for his vote in favor of the $1.4 billion tax bill. Trowbridge defended his vote in favor of the bill as necessary education funding. Marchant said the legislature should have cut spending before raising taxes.[3]
State Assembly District 40 - Primary election
| The Republican incumbent was challenged for his vote in favor of a $1.4 billion tax bill. |
Incumbent state Rep. Philip O'Neill (R) ran for re-election. He lost to Al Kramer (R) in the Republican primary contest. Chris Forbush (R) and Sam England (R) also ran in the Republican primary contest. Michael L. Greedy (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary. John Wagner was the sole Independent American Party candidate.
O'Neill was challenged for his vote in favor of the $1.4 billion tax bill.[1]
State Assembly District 41 - Primary election
| Two Republicans and two Democrats competed for an open seat left by the GOP incumbent. |
Incumbent state Rep. Vicki Dooling (R) declined to run for re-election. Nick Phillips (R) defeated Mary Rooney (R) in the Republican primary contest. Sandra Jauregui (D) defeated former state Rep. Paul Aizley (D) in the Democratic primary contest.
Phillips, a political director of the Clark County Republican Party, said he would focus on economic development in the district if elected. Rooney, a Tea Party activist, said she would focus on taxes and business growth if elected.[4]
Aizley, the former incumbent who lost to Dooling in 2014, was expected to win the Democratic nomination over Jauregui, a former intern for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D) and a first-time candidate.[4]
Notable general elections
State Senate District 5 - General election
| District 5 featured a closely divided race between Republicans and Democrats. |
Incumbent state Sen. Joyce Woodhouse (D) ran for re-election. She defeated Nicholas Lash (D) in the Democratic primary contest. Carrie Buck (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary. Tim Hagan (Lib.) was the lone Libertarian candidate.
According to Daily Kos, Republicans targeted Woodhouse's seat as a potential Republican pick-up in November. In 2012, Woodhouse defeated her Republican opponent by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. The district voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012 by a margin of 52 percent to 46 percent.[5]
State Senate District 6 - General election
| A Republican representative and a Democrat faced off for an open seat left by the GOP incumbent. |
Incumbent state Sen. Mark Lipparelli (R) declined to run for re-election. State Rep. Erv Nelson (R) lost to state Rep. Victoria Seaman (R) in the Republican primary contest. Nicole Cannizzaro (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
According to KTNV Channel 13 News, "This race [District 6] is arguably the best litmus test for how Republican primary voters will treat the legislators who took the risk of voting for a tax increase."[1]
The tax increase referred to a bill that will raise and extend $1.4 billion in taxes primarily to fund K-12 education in the state, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R). Taxes were a major issue in the Republican primary contests. Republicans who voted in favor of the plan received strong criticism from more conservative Republicans, many of whom challenged those incumbents in primaries.
Nelson received the support of the Senate Republican Caucus. A social conservative, Nelson supported a failed bill that would have added religious freedom protections for private businesses similar to Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Nelson also voted in favor of the $1.4 billion tax plan while his opponent, Victoria Seaman, voted against it.[1]
District 6 was also a closely divided district in 2016. Lipparelli was appointed to the chamber in 2014 to fill the vacancy left by then-Sen. Mark Hutchison (R), who became lieutenant governor. In 2012, Hutchison defeated his Democratic opponent in District 6 by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent—901 votes out of 54,097 votes cast. The district voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012 by a margin of 52 percent to 47 percent.
State Senate District 15 - General election
| A Republican, a Democrat, and a Libertarian competed for an open seat left by the GOP incumbent. |
Incumbent state Sen. Greg Brower (R) declined to run for re-election after accepting a job in Washington, D.C. Heidi Gansert (R) defeated Eugene Hoover (R) in the Republican primary contest. Devon Reese (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary. David Colborne (Lib.) was the sole Libertarian candidate.
Gansert, a former chief of staff to Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), received support from Senate Republican leadership, according to KTNV Channel 13 News.[1]
In September 2015, Gansert was criticized for refusing to say whether or not she supported the $1.4 billion tax bill that was signed by Gov. Sandoval, Gansert's former boss. On September 17, 2015, Gansert clarified that she supported Sandoval's agenda and would not vote to repeal the tax bill if elected. Hoover, Gansert's opponent and chairman of a PAC affiliated with the National Federation of Independent Businesses, testified against the bill in the legislature in early 2016.[1][6][7]
District 15 was also a closely divided district in 2016. In 2012, Brower defeated his Democratic opponent by a margin of 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent—266 votes out of 58,438 votes cast. The district voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012 by a margin of 51 percent to 47 percent.
State Senate District 18 - General election
| A Democratic candidate challenged the GOP incumbent. |
Sen. Scott Hammond (R) faced Alexander Marks (D) in the general election.
In District 18, Republicans had a voter registration edge over Democrats in 2016, but there were also a large number of nonpartisan voters.[8] In 2012, Hammond defeated Kelli Ross (D) by a margin of victory of 2 percent.
State Assembly District 9 - General election
| A Democratic candidate challenged the Republican incumbent to a rematch. |
Incumbent state Rep. David M. Gardner (R) ran for re-election. He defeated Minddie Lloyd (R) and Diana Orrock (R) in the Republican primary contest. Steve Yeager (D), Gardner's 2014 Democratic opponent, was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Gardner was challenged for his vote in favor of the $1.4 billion tax bill, a vote Gardner defended. "I ran on fixing the economy. ... The main thing I ran on was fixing K-12 [education]," Gardner said. Gardner's most serious challenger, Nevada Republican National Committeewoman Diana Orrock, said she decided to challenge Gardner over his tax bill vote. "If that wasn’t a slap in the face to the voters in Nevada I don’t know what is," Orrock said.[9]
According to KTNV Channel 13 News, the district leaned Democratic in 2016. In 2014, Gardner defeated Yeager by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.[1]
State Assembly District 21 - General election
| A Democratic candidate challenged the Republican incumbent. |
Incumbent state Rep. Derek Armstrong (R) ran for re-election. He defeated Blain K. Jones (R) in the Republican primary contest. Ozzie Fumo (D) defeated Vinny Spotleson (D) and Ben Nakhaima (D) in the Democratic primary contest.
Armstrong was challenged for his vote in favor of the $1.4 billion tax bill, a vote Armstrong defended. Jones, Armstrong's opponent and the son of state Rep. Brent Jones (R), described himself as the "true conservative Republican choice," citing his opposition to the tax bill and his support for eliminating Common Core.[10]
Spotleson, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D), said he would emphasize federal land and energy issues if elected. Both Spotleson and Fumo, a Las Vegas attorney, supported the tax bill. Fumo received support from the Assembly's Democratic caucus while Spotleson received the endorsement of Sen. Reid.[1][10]
According to KTNV Channel 13 News, Democrats viewed the district as "a potential pickup opportunity" in 2016 because of its slight Democratic lean. In 2014, Armstrong defeated Andy Eisen (D), the former incumbent, by a margin of 50 percent to 47 percent. Libertarian Adam-John Sanacore (Lib.) received 3.3 percent of the vote that year.[1]
State Assembly District 25 - General election
| Two candidates ran for this open Republican seat. |
Incumbent Pat Hickey (R) resigned from the state Assembly on January 12, 2016. Dominic Brunetti (R) was appointed to the seat on September 27, 2016. Eli Smith was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Jill Tolles defeated Jennifer Terhune, Clint Jamison, and Kime King in the Republican primary. Smith and Tolles faced off in the general election.
State Assembly District 35 - General election
| A Democratic candidate challenged the Republican incumbent. |
Incumbent state Rep. Brent Jones (R) ran for re-election. He defeated Tiffany Jones (R), Tom Blanchard (R), Benjamin Donlon (R), and Raymond Joseph Giordano (R) in the Republican primary contest. Justin Watkins (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Tiffany Jones, one of Jones' primary challengers and a supporter of the $1.4 billion tax bill, received support from the Growth and Opportunity PAC, a group led by state Assembly Majority Leader Paul Anderson (R). Blanchard, another of Brent Jones' primary opponents, narrowly lost the 2012 general election.[1]
According to KTNV Channel 13 News, the district, which leaned Democratic in 2016, was "likely a target" for both parties in the November election. In 2014, Brent Jones (R) defeated the former incumbent James Healey (D) by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.[1]
Freshman legislators
The following is a list of challengers who won election on November 8.
- Al Kramer (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 40
- Brittney Miller (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 5
- Chris Brooks (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 10
- Daniele Monroe-Moreno (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 1
- Heidi Gansert (Republican), .Nevada State Senate, District 15
- Jason Frierson (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 8
- Jill Tolles (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 25
- Jim Marchant (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 37
- Justin Watkins (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 35
- Keith Pickard (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 22
- Lesley Cohen (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 29
- Lisa Krasner (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 26
- Nicole Cannizzaro (Democratic), .Nevada State Senate, District 6
- Ozzie Fumo (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 21
- Richard McArthur (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 4
- Sandra Jauregui (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 41
- Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 34
- Skip Daly (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 31
- Steve Yeager (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 9
- William McCurdy II (Democratic), .Nevada State Assembly, District 6
Defeated incumbents
The following is a list of incumbents who were defeated on November 8.
- Brent Jones (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 35
- David M. Gardner (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 9
- Derek Armstrong (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 21
- Jill Dickman (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 31
- John Moore (Nevada) (Libertarian), .Nevada State Assembly, District 8
- Shelly Shelton (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 10
- Stephen Silberkraus (Republican), .Nevada State Assembly, District 29
See also
- Nevada State Assembly
- Nevada State Senate
- Nevada State Legislature
- State legislative elections, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 KTNV, "Ten important Nevada Primary races to watch in 2016," March 23, 2016
- ↑ Keith Pickard 2016 campaign website, "Issues," accessed May 9, 2016
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Assembly District 37," May 28, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Assembly District 41," accessed June 2, 2016
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Morning Digest: Can Democrats retake the Nevada Senate? These three seats will decide it all," accessed February 12, 2016
- ↑ Las Vegas Sun, "Nevada GOP Senate hopeful Gansert attracts primary challenge," October 15, 2015
- ↑ Ralston Reports, "Gansert's silence on tax increase is bizarre, ridiculous and unsustainable," September 17, 2015
- ↑ Las Vegas Sun, "Democrats back candidate to challenge GOP Sen. Scott Hammond," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Assembly District 9," May 27, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Assembly District 21," accessed June 2, 2016
