Election workers secure ballot boxes at the Clark County Elections Department on the evening of Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo: Jeniffer Solis/Nevada Current)
The presidential election was far from the only thing Nevada voters decided last week. Here’s a look at some other insights that emerged as the dust settled on the 2024 general.
Lombardo remains Governor Veto
Democrats appear to have fallen even further from securing a veto-free supermajority, though they still maintain healthy control of the Nevada state legislature, unofficial election results show.
In the general election, Democrats had a supermajority in the General Assembly and were one seat away from a supermajority in the Senate.
In the Nevada Senate, where 10 of the 21 seats increased this year, the composition will remain the same as on Election Day.
The Democrats have successfully flipped Senate District 15. Democrat Angie Taylor, who served one term in the state Assembly, defeated Republican Mike Ginsburg for a seat previously represented by Republican Heidi Seevers O’Gara (formerly Seevers Gansert), who chose not to run for re-election.
That gain appears to have been offset by Senate District 11. On Monday morning, the Associated Press reported that the Nevada Stream used for race projections, had not yet called the SD11 race between Democratic incumbent Dallas Harris and Republican challenger Lori Rogich. But Harris trailed Rogich by about 850 votes.
State Sen. Carrie Buck, a Republican seen as vulnerable in the competitive battle Senate District 5fended off her Democratic challenger.
If current results hold, Democrats will be two seats away from a supermajority in the Senate.
In the Nevada State Assembly, Republicans appear to have successfully broken the Democratic supermajority by defending their fourteen seats and turning one seat red.
Republican Rebecca Edgeworth defeated Democrat Sharifa Wahab Assembly District 35the AP said. Edgeworth, who raised significantly more money than Wahab, was part of a group of candidates endorsed by Gov. Joe Lombardo.
AD35 was previously represented by Democrat Michelle Gorelow, who chose not to run for re-election amid controversy over her “yes” vote on a funding bill that benefited a nonprofit she later got a job with.
Other competitive open seats will see new representatives but not switch parties. Republicans failed to turn around Assembly District 29. There, Democrat Joe Dalia defeated Republican Annette Dawson Owens. Likewise, Democrats failed to turn around Assembly District 4. There, Republican Lisa Cole defeated Democrat Ryan Hampton.
Republican lawmaker Heidi Kasama and Democratic lawmakers Elaine Marzola, Selena La Rue Hatch and Shea Backus all successfully defended their competitive seats against challengers.
Meanwhile, Democratic Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui appears to be on track for a victory over Republican challenger Rafael Arroyo in Assembly District 41. The race has not been called by the AP, but Jauregui is up about 350 votes.
Jauregui’s race is one of two Assembly races that the AP had not yet called as of Monday morning. The other, Assembly District 12, is between Democratic incumbent Max Carter and Republican challenger Nancy Roecker. Carter is up less than 300 votes.
If current results hold, Democrats will be one seat away from a supermajority in the General Assembly.
According to BallotpediaNevada is one of 12 states with divided government, meaning that neither major political party controls both the chambers of the legislature and the governorship.
Moms for Liberty went to the school board
The Clark County School Board will soon have two trustees affiliated with Moms for Liberty — an advocacy group known for protesting vaccine mandates, advocating against diversity equity and inclusion policies, and pushing anti-trans narratives.
Lorena Biassotti, co-founder of the Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter, and Lydia Dominguez, a former member of the chapter who left the group in the weeks before the general election, were both elected to the nonpartisan board. Both defeated former teachers – Kamilah Bywaters and Eileen Eady, respectively.
Biassotti and Dominguez will be sworn in as trustees in early January.
Joining them will be political newcomers Emily Stevens and Tameka Henry. Stevens expressed some conservative views on education issues such as charter and private schools, but is not associated with Moms for Liberty and did not campaign on cultural issues such as book bans and trans athletes. Henry, an outspoken critic of Moms for Liberty, backed by progressive groups, ousted school board President Evelyn Garcia Morales.
The Clark County School Board has seven voting members and four appointed members. The new school board will be involved almost immediately in the process of selecting the next superintendent of the Clark County School District.
Applications for the district’s top job will be accepted until Feb. 5, according to a timeline posted by CCSD. The school board is expected to hold its first round of interviews on Feb. 17, with semifinalists interviewed on March 5 and the top two candidates selected on March 13.
Final interviews are scheduled for the week of March 17, while official hiring is scheduled for March 27.
Also in education…
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Biassoti and Dominguez scored victories in the general election, but a third Moms for Liberty candidate fell far short in the election. Tim Underwoodwho told it Current that the death of his trans child by suicide solidified his decision to fight trans-inclusive policies within public schools, losing to Tricia Braxton in the Nevada State Board of Education District 1.
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Danielle Ford, who served one term as a Clark County School Board trustee before losing re-election, won a seat on the State Board of Education. Ford defeated Rene Cantu in District 3. Cantu currently represents District 2 on the board, but due to redistricting that occurred after the last election, he now lives in District 3.
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Nevada’s Question 1, which asked voters to remove the Board of Regents from the state constitution, failed: 55% no, 45% yes.
Bad day for libraries
The Washoe County Library System will lose about a quarter of its current funding after voters in the county there rejected a countywide ballot question.
The library system expects a cut of $4.5 million News 4leading to the elimination of 23 staff positions, the system’s entire $1.4 million books budget and $200,000 of the system’s technology budget in June. Libraries will likely reduce their weekend and evening hours.
The “Renew Washoe Libraries” initiative would have continued the allocation of a small percentage of existing tax revenues to public libraries. The failure of the ballot question will not reduce what residents pay, it will simply remove the obligation to spend the money elsewhere.
The deficit and cuts could be offset by the Washoe County Commission in its general budget. A online petition The call for this is already circulating.
Meanwhile, voters in Henderson rejected Henderson Library District Question Number. 1, which would have increased property taxes by 2 cents per $100,000 of assessed value to be used to operate and maintain libraries, and to build new facilities in newly developed areas of the city.
Henderson residents also rejected additional funding for firefighters.
No, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes
Nevada’s Question 3, which would have shifted the state to an open primary/ranked voting system, received more total votes than any of the other six statewide ballot questions, according to unofficial vote totals as of Monday morning.
This year, the most voted on ballot measure was Question 3, which failed to pass, receiving more votes overall than other high-profile questions on voter ID requirements and abortion rights. Question 3 received a total of 1.372 million votes, about 3,000 more than Question 7, the voter ID measure that passed and received a total of 1.369 million votes.
The Nevada Republican Party took a strong position on both questions, opposing Question 3 and supporting Question 7.
Question 6, which proposes enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, passed and received the third most votes. Voters will have to approve it again in 2026 before it becomes part of the constitution.
Question 1, which sought to remove the Board of Regents from the state constitution, failed. The question, which was criticized as confusing voters, received the fewest votes overall. About 55,500 fewer people voted on question 1 than on question 3.
The remaining three ballot questions — two on removing outdated language from the state constitution and one on exempting diapers from sales taxes — all passed.
Voters don’t have to weigh in on every race or ballot measure, and many voters choose not to. By comparison, Nevada’s presidential election totaled about 68,600 more votes than the top-voted ballot question.
Every vote counts
Just 63 votes separate incumbent North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Ruth Anderson Garcia and her challenger Robert “Twixx” Taylor in the nonpartisan race, according to unofficial election results posted by the state. That corresponds to about a third of 1 percent of the votes.
That North Las Vegas City Council race appears to be the closest of this year’s municipal elections. However, it is larger than the 15-vote difference that separated two candidates in the nonpartisan primary in Reno City Council Ward 1 earlier this year.
Nevada does not have automatic recounts, no matter how close the election results are. Recounts must be requested and paid for by the candidate. They rarely, if ever, result in overturning election results.
