We’ve been waiting months for this week’s primaries in Nevada because we feel, and have been stressing for a while now, that Nevada is likely the most important state in the 2022 midterms. With the June 14 primaries now settled in the Silver State, we’re bringing you a series of to-the-point, insightful, expansive, and connected pieces on what you should know about the Nevada elections and why they matter so much this cycle.

Nevada Senate Race | Nevada Congressional Races | Nevada Governor’s Race | Nevada’s Executive Branch | The Nevada Republican Party | Nevada and the 21st Century Democratic Party

Federal elections are very important, and as some of our other pieces in this series demonstrate, Nevada punches beyond its weight when it comes to control of the federal government. But there are some less-covered and equally dire elections at the state level in Nevada too.

Secretary of State

While it may not be the highest profile, the race for secretary of state has the potential to be the most cataclysmic. The position is open as incumbent Republican Barbara Cegavske is retiring after the Nevada state Republican Party censured her for defending the legitimacy of the 2020 election in the state (she is also term-limited). Jim Marchant, a former state assemblyman and 2020 election conspiracist, won the Republican nomination after fending off former Nevada state senator Jesse Haw and former judge Richard Scotti, both of whom also proclaimed support for “election integrity.” Disappointingly for democracy advocates, Republican Kristopher Dahir, a Sparks city councilman and the highest profile pro-democracy candidate in that primary, got fifth place behind all three of the election grifters and, in true Nevada fashion, behind the 8% for “None of these candidates.”

Marchant, who insists that “your vote hasn’t counted for decades… the people in office have been selected,” has said he would not have certified the 2020 election had he been in the position he is now running for at the time. This is in line with a broad trend this cycle of election myth peddlers running for the most prominent election administrative role in swing states that Trump lost. In Nevada, the secretary of state does not certify the results of an election, but they do set and enforce rules in administering elections. 

Cisco Aguilar, the Democratic nominee and a former staffer of longtime Nevada Senator (and former Senate Democratic Leader) Harry Reid, will be in for a tough fight – but one that matters a great deal, as Nevada is a perennially close state in federal elections. Marchant’s rhetoric espousing lies and hysterical electoral panic may put off many voters, but it’s not clear Aguilar can win in a Republican-leaning year simply by not being Marchant. So, advantage Marchant.

Treasurer

Less critical and less dramatic but equally demonstrative of the promotion of ill-suited idealogues to technocratic offices is the race for Nevada’s treasurer. The position is responsible for investing state funds, oversight and record-keeping of unclaimed property, overseeing college savings plans, and the issuance of various reports. As is the case for many technocratic positions (looking at you, elected coroners and elected judges), elections for this position rarely generate particularly qualified officeholders, and they’re often not positions you want crusading populists in control of. Unfortunately for Nevada, the Republican nominee for treasurer is Michele Fiore, a member of the Las Vegas City Council, and a fringe candidate to say the least. At the start of the year, she was running for governor, but switched to running for treasurer in March at the urging of people close to her idol, former President Donald Trump.

Fiore is incredibly controversial. Putting aside her tacky gun-toting Christmas card, Fiore has made headlines numerous times for things like backing militants’ use of firearms against the federal government (she also compared the Bureau of Land Management to Nazis), opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees in Nevada (and saying “I am not okay with Syrian refugees. I’m not okay with terrorists. I’m okay with putting them down, blacking them out. Just put a piece of brass in their ocular cavity and end their miserable life. I’m good with that.”), being rebuked by her own county’s Republican Party for making “racially charged comments,” and attempting to co-host a Blue Lives Matter march on the Strip three weeks after the murder of George Floyd, which ultimately compelled the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to put out a statement explaining they were not in any way affiliated with the event. She’s also been under FBI investigation for potential campaign finance violations. But, among Fiore’s interesting quirks, while serving in the Nevada Assembly, she was the only Republican to vote in favor of removing the ban on gay marriage and legalizing medical use of marijuana.

In November she will go up against incumbent treasurer, Democrat Zach Conine. Under Conine, the state received two bond rating increases, generated relatively high returns on investment, and delivered on returning the largest amount of unclaimed property in the program’s history. He’s a pretty understated candidate, but maybe that works out for him in a race that – if it gets any attention – will be driven by Fiore’s bombastic headlines. Fiore is a tough pill to swallow and for that reason, Conine is favored.

Attorney General

The Republican primary for attorney general of Nevada was a relatively tight two-way race between two Las Vegas-area attorneys, Sigal Chattah and Tisha Black. Black has ties to the budding (pun intended) cannabis industry in the state and has espoused vague campaign platitudes of opposing mask mandates and stopping illegal drugs and human trafficking. Chattah, who made a name for herself suing Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak over COVID-19 restrictions, hit Black on past donations she had made to Democratic politicians. Ultimately, Chattah prevailed, running on plans to form “an elite squad of attorneys general” to sue the Biden administration and dinging the incumbent Democrat on election integrity.

Chattah, with the nomination in hand, now marches on to the general election against incumbent Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford. In 2018, Ford eked out a victory by less than 5,000 votes over Republican Wes Duncan, the slimmest statewide win in Nevada that cycle. As a former majority leader of the Nevada Senate and a distinguished legislative resume, Ford is demonstrably qualified, and a far sturdier hand than Chattah, who said Ford (who is Black) “should be hanging from a fucking crane.” Despite his narrow win in 2018, Nevadans are probably primed to reward Ford a second term, making him one of the lucky low-profile Democrats who could continue holding statewide office in the Silver State.