Filing opens Jan. 2 for judicial offices

The 2024 election cycle is around the corner as filing begins next week for all judicial positions in Nevada.

Filing opens Tuesday, Jan. 2 for two weeks for Justice of the Peace for New River Township Justice Court.

Justice of the Peace Ben Trotter, who was first elected in 2018, is finishing his first term. Prior to being elected as Justice of the Peace, Trotter served as Churchill County sheriff for eight years.

Justice of the Peace is a nonpartisan office, and candidates may file at the Churchill County Clerk’s office on 155 N. Taylor St.

The county’s website is www.churchillcountynv.gov.

Nonjudicial filing dates are March 4-15. Two other nonpartisan county races are on the Mosquito, Vector and Weed Abatement and the Churchill County School boards.

Incumbents up for re-election on the Mosquito, Vector and Weed Abatement are Marion Jonte and Cindy McGarrah. Three candidates are coming to the end of their four-year terms on the school board. They are Trisha Dooley, Greg Malkovich and Kathryn Whitaker.

Two four-year partisan county commission seats will be open. Justin Heath, who’s finishing his first term, represents District 1 and Harry “Bus” Scharmann has been filling the last two years in District 3. Former Commissioner Greg Koenig was elected to Assembly District 38 in 2022.

Heath and Scharmann are Republicans.

Since Nevada law changed before last year’s election in 2022, the races for Fallon mayor and a council member from Ward 2 will be on the ballot along the county and state offices. Current Mayor Ken Tedford and Councilwoman Karla Kent are up for re-election for four-year terms.

Filing for city offices is at the Fallon Clerk’s Office, 55 W. Williams Ave. Their website is www.fallonnevada.gov.

Statewide races are for U.S. senator and three six-year Supreme Court justice seats. First-term U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, is seeking re-election. Republicans who announced their intention to file against Rosen are Sam Brown, Tony Grady, Jeffrey Ross Gunter and Jim Marchant.

District races are for Congress, District 2, currently held by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei. Koenig is seeking re-election for the Assembly and Nevada System of Higher Education Regent Carol Del Carlo is running for another term in district 9.

The office for State Board of Education, District 2, is for a four-year term. Currently, the District 2 seat is open.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s office in Carson City will handle the filings for statewide and district offices. Their office is located at 101 N. Carson St., and their website is www.nvsos.gov.

This year is the presidential race. For the presidential primary preference, active voters will start seeing sample ballots and mail ballots by mid-January. Early voting starts Jan. 27.

Nevadans live in a closed-primary state. Only the Republicans may vote for a Republican candidate, and those with a “D” after their name can only vote for a Democrat. Nonpartisan voters will not receive a ballot.

The presidential preference primary is a different contest than the Feb. 8 presidential caucus organized by the Nevada Republican Party. The Feb. 6 primary will be nonbinding for Republicans, though Democrats will rely on the primary result.

The primary election for most offices is June 11 with early voting May 25 to June 7, and the general election is Nov. 5 with early voting Oct. 19 to Nov. 1.