Carson judges running unopposed

The filing period for Nevada judicial seats ended at 5 p.m. Friday, and neither the two Supreme Court incumbents nor Carson City’s two judges have an opponent this year.

Justices Kris Pickering and Mark Gibbons were the first candidates to file when the period opened Jan. 6.

In District 1, representing Carson City and Storey County, District Judge James Todd Russell has filed for re-election. The same is true for James Wilson in District 2, also representing Carson City and Storey County.

But at the close of the filing period, none of them had drawn an opponent. Because all four are considered automatically re-elected, they are prohibited from collecting campaign donations this cycle.

For Russell and Wilson, it will be their second six-year terms in office. Russell, however, was appointed to the bench in December 2006, two years before his first run for the office.

He was unopposed in the 2008 race as well.

Russell grew up in Carson City, where his father, Charles, served two terms as governor. In addition to some 20 years of private practice, he served from 1999-2003 on the Nevada Ethics Commission and is the president of the Nevada District Judges Association.

Wilson also grew up in Carson City. He was a deputy district attorney, then Elko district attorney, before returning to Carson City and was in private practice for 22 years. He ran for the seat vacated by retiring Bill Maddox in 2008.

Gibbons serves as chief justice this year. Pickering, the only member of the high court who was not a district judge before taking a seat on the high court, was chief justice last year.

While just two Supreme Court seats are up for election this year, all 88 of Nevada’s district judges are on the ballot in their respective districts.