Voters to determine fate of key state, county races

From determining who will serve as governor for the next four years to whether to amend the Nevada Constitution, voters will face a variety of issues and races Nov. 4.

In the sole national race, local voters are being asked to select who will serve as the 3rd Congressional District representative. Vying against incumbent Joe Heck for the two-year term are Erin Bilbray, David Goossen, Randy Kimmick and Steven St. John.

Among the state races, voters will be asked if Gov. Brian Sandoval should be re-elected to a second four-year term or if Robert “Bob” Goodman or David VanDerBeek should hold the office.

Lucy Flores, Mark Hutchinson and Mike Little are seeking to replace Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who served two terms.

In one of the state’s most heated contests, Adam Laxalt and Ross Miller are vying to become attorney general. Also running for that office is Jonathan Hansen.

Miller, who is secretary of state, will be replaced by Barbara Cegavske or Kate Marshall.

Seeking the state treasurer position are Kress Cave, Dan Schwartz and Kim Wallin, who is currently state controller. Tom Jones, Ron Knecht and Andrew Martin are vying for state controller.

Also up for election this year are the state Senate District 12, and state Assembly District 23 and 19 seats. Joe Hardy and Melissa Woodbury are running unopposed for the Senate and District 23 seats, respectively. Seeking the District 19 seat are Chris Edwards, Donald Hendon and James Zygadlo.

In county races, Mary Beth Scow is seeking re-election to her Clark County Commission District G seat. She is running against Cindy Lake.

For district attorney, incumbent Steven Wolfson is being challenged by James Duensing Jr. Incumbent County Assessor Michele Shafe is running against Brad Barnhill and Tim Hagan.

The county clerk position features a race between Lynn Goya and William Hols, while incumbent Debbie Conway faces challenges from Don Hotchkiss, Douglas Johnson and Shannon Maclean for county recorder.

County Treasurer Laura Fitzpatrick is being challenged by Mike Javornicky. Incumbent John Cahill is facing Ed Klapproth for the public administrator position.

Seeking the sheriff’s office are Larry Burns and Joe Lombardo.

Steve Hampe is running unopposed for Boulder Township constable.

There are numerous judicial races, including two seats on the state’s Supreme Court. However, Supreme Court Justices Kristina Pickering, who is seeking a six-year term for Seat B, and Mark Gibbons, who is seeking a six-year term for Seat D, are both running unopposed.

For District Court, there are 15 races in different departments, and another 13 races for Family Court judges.

In addition to the two Boulder City ballot questions, there are three state questions.

Question 1 seeks to amend the state constitution to create a court of appeals for District Court civil and criminal cases. According to an informational booklet sent to voters, this measure would create a court consisting of three judges. The Nevada Supreme Court would determine what types of cases may be heard by the appeals court, as well as when that court’s decisions should be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Question 2 seeks to amend the state constitution to remove a cap on taxes for minerals, along with other requirements and restrictions relating to taxing mines, mining claims and minerals. It also would affect the distribution of money collected by these taxes.

Question 3 also is highly contested. This question seeks to amend the state’s revised statutes to create a 2 percent tax on the gross revenue of businesses whose annual revenue exceeds $1 million, with the proceeds of the tax helping to fund public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. This question is more commonly called the Education Initiative by those in favor of its passage and the Margins Tax by those opposed.

Boulder City residents can cast their votes Tuesday and Wednesday at City Hall during early voting, which begins Saturday and continues through Oct. 31.