Early voting for Nevada primary election starts Saturday

Early voting begins Saturday.

Carson City Elections Deputy Aubrey Rowlatt said this will be the first time the new voting machines are used in an election. The Express Vote machines “presented no problems” during testing, she said. The new system cost about $500,000 in Carson City alone but experts said the old machines weren’t only out of date but failing.

In Carson City, the only polling place is at the courthouse during early voting.

The polls will open at 10 a.m. Saturday and close at 2 p.m. They’re closed Sunday and Monday but open through the week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The same hours apply during week two of early voting, which ends June 8 — the same day candidates must file their second contributions and expenses report.

The actual primary election is June 12. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

In the race for Dean Heller’s U.S. Senate seat, there are 15 candidates. Heller has four challengers in the Republican primary: Sherry Brooks, Sarah Gazala, Vic Harrell and Tom Heck. Heller’s path to the nomination became much smoother after Danny Tarkanian pulled out of that race, opting instead to run for the House of Representatives.

There are six Democrats running, led by Rep. Jacky Rosen. The others are Danny Burleigh, David Knight, Bobby Mahendra, Allen Rheinhart, and Jesse Sbaih.

There are also minor party candidates but they don’t face a primary vote.

Mark Amodei has three Republican primary challengers including perennial candidate Sharron Angle. Joel Beck and Ian Luetehans are the others.

Six Democrats are vying for the opportunity to try unseat Amodei including Rick Shepherd and Vance Alm who have both run for office before. Jack Schofield Jr., Clint Koble, Jesse Hurley and Patrick Fogarty are also running.

The most crowded race is for governor where 17 people have filed. Six of them are Democrats including front runners Chris Giunchigliani and Steve Sisolak. John Bonaventura, Asheesh Dewan, David Jones, and Henry Thorns are the others.

The Republican primary candidates are led by Attorney General Adam Laxalt and Treasurer Dan Schwartz. The other GOP candidates are Bill Boyd, Stephanie Carlisle, Frederick Conquest, Edward Dundas, Jared Fisher, and Stan Lusak.

There are nine candidates seeking to succeed Mark Hutchison, who elected not to run again for lieutenant governor. The Republican pack is led by Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson and includes Eugene Hoover, Brent Jones, Scott LaFata and Gary Meyers.

Former Treasurer Kate Marshall faces Laurie Hansen in the Democrat primary.

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske faces Ernest Aldridge in the primary. Democrat Assemblyman Nelson Araujo has no primary opponent.

The race to replace Schwartz as state Treasurer has four candidates. While the IAP and Democratic candidates have no primary opposition, former Las Vegas Councilman and legislator Bob Beers faces Derek Uehara in the GOP primary.

In the race to succeed Laxalt as Attorney General, his former first assistant Wes Duncan faces Craig Mueller in the Republican primary. Former state Senate majority Leader Aaron Ford faces Stuart MacKie in the Democrat primary.

There’s no primary in the controller’s race as only one Democrat, Catherine Byrne, filed to challenge Republican incumbent Ron Knecht.

There’s a primary contest in Senate District 16 representing Carson City and south Washoe County but incumbent Republican Ben Kieckhefer’s opponent Gary Schmidt. The disqualification has been appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court but there’s no ruling as of yet.

In District 17, incumbent Republican James Settelmeyer has only one Democrat opposing him so there’s no primary.

The same is true in Carson City’s Assembly District 40. Incumbent Republican Al Kramer’s only opponent is Democrat Autumn Zemke. and again in AD 39 where Republican Jim Wheeler has no primary opponent.

In AD38, Republican Robin Titus has no opponent and, so, if she simply votes for herself, is re-elected.

Only one judicial contest has a primary this cycle: the race to fill the Supreme Court C post vacated by the retirement of Michael Cherry.

Five candidates are running including Jerry Tao who sits on the Intermediate Appellate Court: Also running are district judges Elissa Cadish of Las Vegas and Leon Aberasturi of Fernley. The remaining candidates are Alan Lefebvre of Las Vegas and Carson City attorney John Rutledge.

There are no Carson City races on the primary ballot since no contest has more than two candidates and all races are considered nonpartisan. Most, in fact, have just one person seeking the office.

In Douglas County, the most contested race is the race for sheriff. Four candidates are vying to replace the retiring Ron Pierini: Captain Joe Duffy, David Brady, Dan Coverley and Dean Paris.

The sheriff race is nonpartisan. To win in the primary, one candidate must receive 50 percent plus 1 to win, if not the top two candidates will advance to the general election.

In the race for Douglas County Commission District 4, Republicans Janet Murphy and Wesley Rice will face off to see who meets nonpartisan Kristi Kandel in the general election.

But in Douglas, races are partisan and, where only two Republicans filed, the winner will be decided in the primary election and the victor will need just a single vote to claim the office in the general. Those races include the assessor and commission district 2.