Nevada Assembly District 39 candidate Jim Wheeler is all smiles as election results are posted Tuesday night.
Embattled Douglas County Assemblyman Jim Wheeler beat Robin Reedy in the Republican primary in District 39 by a substantial margin.
His 2,000 vote lead in Douglas County was enough to ensure victory even though the vote tally wasn’t final in Storey or Lyon counties.
“There aren’t enough votes left in Storey and Lyon counties to turn that around,” Wheeler said, before results became final.
Reedy filed for the seat after Wheeler’s comments to a group of Storey County Republicans were made public. In that meeting, Wheeler said his commitment to do what his constituents was so strong that even if they wanted to restore slavery he would “hold his nose and vote for it.”
He was immediately and strongly criticized as racist and even disavowed by Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller.
Reedy, a former treasurer’s office official and chief of staff to former Gov. Jim Gibbons, called on voters to replace him with her.
Douglas County final results gave him the edge 4,037 to 2,443. He finished the night with a 635 to 331 margin in Lyon County and 398 to 238 in Storey for an overall 2,000 vote victory margin — 5,070 to 3,012.
“Negative advertising does not work in Douglas County,” he said of the victory.
He will face Independent American Al Giordano in November.