It may be a trend occurring in many parts of the country. When it comes time for people to file for office, the number of potential candidates has been dwindling, especially here in Churchill and surrounding counties.
Perhaps it depends on the election cycle or race, but this year’s field is rather sparse for county-wide office.
A two-man race for sheriff may emerge as the county’s most exciting election followed by the race for recorder between Jamie Dellera and Tasha Hesssey.
Realtor Bob Getto filed late as did Stuart MacKie for public administrator, a post now held by Jan Brown.
The School Board race has dwindled with the number of candidates interested in running. We can remember not too many years ago individuals were shoulder to shoulder on the stage during Candidates Night.
Now, only five are running for four seats including incumbents Rich Gent, Clay Hendrix, Nona McFarlane and Carmen Schank. Likewise, four candidates are running for three seats on the Mosquito, Vector Control and Weed Abatement Board. State Sen. James Settelmeyer is running unopposed, while Norm Frey and Dr. Robin Titus are two Republicans facing each other for Assembly District 38, a post currently held by Tom Grady, who is termed out.
Statewide, the races for governor and Congressional District 2 will be ho-hum, but the other four constitutional offices may provide the fireworks, especially for lieutenant governor and attorney general.
A Las Vegas poll shows Sue Lowden easily leading her challenger, Mark Hutchison, for the state’s No. 2 office that is currently held by Brian Krolicki. The attorney general race pits Ross Miller, the son of a former governor, against Adam Laxalt, the grandson of a former governor and U.S. senator.
The state Democrats have, on paper, decided not to mount a serious challenge to incumbent Gov. Brian Sandoval, although U.S. Sen. Harry Reid promised a formidable challenger.
The 2014 election cycle, as one can see, won’t be as crazy as 2010 when Tea Party darling Sharron Angle ran against Reid or when county elections featured several exciting races. President Obama’s election and Sen. Dean Heller holding on to his senate seat provided the only raised eyebrows in 2012 in the Silver State.
It’s rather sad that the number of people running for office has declined over the years, but we are not surprised. Extra scrutiny from either the media or social media has deterred many; on the other hand, the thought of becoming a public servant may not be worth all the trouble, the phone calls or accusations of not doing a good job. Although we had a lackluster filing season, we, nevertheless, cannot stress the importance to vote in both the primary and general elections.
Editorials written by the LVN Editorial Board appear on Wednesdays.