Dixon, Hess advance to general election

Vanessa Dixon and Rollie Hess will square off in the general election after they took the top two spots on the Republican ballot in the race for clerk-treasurer in Storey County.

Dixon led in the balloting with 238 votes, followed by Hess with 150. Lee Wilson, a former school board candidate was third with 77 votes and businesswoman Zoe Connell had 62.

Dixon said she attributed her victory to her experience in the office and "working hard and getting out there and meeting the people. And we are going to continue to do the same thing in the general election."

Hess was happy with the results and said he was in a position he expected to be in.

"We knew it would be a tough race especially with Vanessa already in office," he said. "We really think we're in a good position to attack now. We're not discouraged by being behind. We are totally encouraged. We're in attack mode now."

Dixon has served as interim clerk-treasurer since the December 2007 death of Lorraine Du Fresne, who was elected in 2006. Dixon also ran the office during Du Fresne's illness.

Hess is the uncle of Storey County Commissioner Greg "Bum" Hess, who is running unopposed this year. He is also a former president of the Storey County School Board.

Christine Miller was unopposed for Storey County School District Trustee Seat 1C with 731 votes.

Also unopposed were David Cockerton for Seat 2A of the Canyon GID board with 166 votes and Linda Dennis for Seat 2B of the Canyon GID seat at 167 votes.

Brad Bryant had filed for Seat 2C for the Canyon GID board, but was ruled ineligible due to term limits by the Secretary of State and Nevada Supreme Court.

Kirt Warren and Susan Austin were unopposed for Tahoe Reno Industrial Center GID seats 2A and 2B respectively.

Susan Breylinger of the Storey County clerk-treasurer's office said things went very smoothly.

Dixon said Storey County's turnout of 838 for the primary was low. She said 1,288 voters participated in the 2006 primary.

Connell and Wilson could not be reached for comment.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.