Months after candidates announced their plans to run for office and election advertisements hit the airwaves, they’ll have their chance to make it official during Nevada’s 10-day candidate filing period, which began March 4.

Though candidates up and down the ticket usually have announced their campaigns and started raising and spending money by the time the filing period begins, the period is historically marked by surprises as some may decide not to follow through with their intentions, switch races or make an unexpected run for a seat. The two-week candidate filing period runs March 4-15.

To file for office, candidates must appear virtually or in person, pay a fee, show identification and sign paperwork to complete the process. For seats within a municipal government, candidates file with the city clerk; for seats within the county, candidates file at their county clerk’s office; for multiple county or statewide seats, they file with the secretary of state’s office.

Judicial candidates have a separate filing period in January; you can read more about those filings and announcements, here. 

The primary election is June 11, with early voting from May 25 to June 7. The general election is Nov. 5, with an early voting period from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1. Mail ballots will be sent out no later than 20 days before Election Day, but are often sent out before the start of early voting.

Below are highlights from the candidate filing period, as well as a spreadsheet showing filed candidates.

Nearly 950 candidates file in Nevada, no Democrat in Congressional District 2

As the final day of candidate filing came to a close, nearly 130 candidates rushed to submit their paperwork to run for office on Friday. Notably, the state’s filing period ended without a single Democratic candidate filing to run in the state’s ruby-red Congressional District 2, a Northern Nevada district held by the state’s only Republican congressman, Rep. Mark Amodei. 

Amodei will face a primary challenge from Fred Simon, a Minden-based doctor who ran for governor in 2022. He’ll also face three other long-shot candidates in the general election.

Over the last 40 years, 1998 marked the only other election when no Democratic candidate ran for the seat. That year, then-Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) won re-election.

Among the last-minute filers was former Republican Assemblywoman Sharron Angle (R-Reno), who is running for Reno’s open Senate District 15 seat. The seat is represented by Sen. Heidi Seevers Gansert (R-Reno), who announced last year she would not be running for re-election after the seat was redrawn during the 2021 redistricting process to include more registered Democrats. 

In 2010, Angle made national headlines in her unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate against the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). She’ll face two other GOP candidates in the state’s Republican primary for the seat.

Also on Friday, Regent Laura Perkins withdrew her candidacy for re-election to the higher education governing board and filed to run for Senate District 4 as a Democrat. The district is represented by Sen. Dina Neal (D-North Las Vegas), who filed to run for re-election on March 4. Former Assemblyman Richard Carrillo (D-Las Vegas) on Friday filed to run for a spot on the Board of Regents in District 4.

Assembly Democrats endorsed businessman Ron Nelsen as a last-minute challenger for Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama’s (R-Las Vegas) Assembly District 2 seat. Nelsen is the only challenger for the seat.

As of 6:08 p.m. on Friday, March 15, 959 candidates had filed to run for office, including 128 on Friday alone.

— Tabitha Mueller, 6:30 p.m., Friday, March 15

Local Moms for Liberty vice chair, members looking to join state, Clark County school boards

Three candidates affiliated with the Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter have filed to run for open seats on the Clark County School Board and the State Board of Education. 

The vice chair of the Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter, Lorena Biassotti, filed Thursday to run for the Clark County School Board District E seat held by Lola Brooks. Member Lydia Dominguez filed on Friday to run for the District B seat held by Katie Williams, and Timothy Underwood, the chapter’s senior adviser, is running for the vacant District 1 seat on the State Board of Education. 

Moms for Liberty is a conservative “parental rights” group that has gained national traction for its efforts to influence school curriculum and classroom learning. The local chapter was launched in Clark County last summer and is the only chapter in Nevada. 

Incumbent trustees in the seats have said they aren’t seeking re-election. 

District B covers a large portion of the upper valley, including parts of North Las Vegas. District E includes Summerlin and parts of northwest Las Vegas. 

According to her website, Dominguez has served on the Clark County School District (CCSD)’s Attendance Zone Advisory Committee, a position she was appointed to by Williams, since 2022. Dominguez has also served in the U.S. Air Force for the past 10 years. She’s a mother of two CCSD students. 

Biassotti also goes by her maiden name, Cardenas, and is the founder of the My Children’s Advocate group which opposes communist ideologies and teaching social issues in the classroom, according to its website. 

As of 12:25 p.m., 873 candidates have filed for election statewide. 

— Rocio Hernandez, 3:46 p.m., March 15 

Congressional incumbents make re-election bids official on Thursday

Dina Titus (D-NV), Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Steven Horsford (D-NV) all filed to retain their congressional seats on Thursday. Jim Marchant, a Republican and a prominent leader in promoting lies that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election, also officially filed on Thursday to run for the U.S. Senate race held by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV). He joins a Republican primary that includes front-runner Sam Brown and others.

Clark County Commissioner Will McCurdy II (D) also filed to run for another four-year term representing  District D, making him the sole candidate in that race so far.

— Carly Sauvageau, 5:10 p.m., March 14

Former Clark County trustee files for State Board of Education

Former Clark County School Board Trustee Danielle Ford, who served on the board from 2019 to 2022, has filed to run for the State Board of Education District 3 seat. 

Ford filed for re-election in 2022, but lost against former Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams. 

In 2021, Ford was one of the four trustees who voted to terminate former Clark County Superintendent Jesus Jara. About three months ago, Ford launched her own podcast, Unraveling Education, focused on issues in the Clark County School District. 

She will be running against René Cantú, who currently serves as the State Board of Education’s District 4 representative. Board President Felicia Ortiz, who has represented District 3 for eight years, said in a Thursday interview she will not be running for re-election and supports Cantú’s bid. 

After the 2020 census, Nevada’s congressional district boundaries were changed in November 2021 to reflect the current population, which also affected the State Board of Education’s districts. 

— Rocio Hernandez, 2:51 p.m. Thursday, March 14

Brown files for Senate race

Sam Brown made his Senate campaign official, filing for the Republican primary in Carson City on Thursday.

Brown, a former Army captain backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is considered the front-runner in the race to take on incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV). 

He joins nine other candidates who have filed to run in the Republican primary, with one day left in the filing period. Of his notable declared opponents, former secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant has yet to file.

— Gabby Birenbaum, 10:34 a.m. Thursday, March 14

Video game composer challenging Lee; county GOP chair suspends Assembly campaign

Halo and Destiny video game composer Martin O’Donnell formally filed to run for Nevada’s swingy Congressional District 3 seat as a Republican on Wednesday after announcing he would run for the seat in early March.

O’Donnell is the eighth candidate to file to run in the district, and more are expected to join him, including tax analyst Drew Johnson, a Republican who announced his intention to run for the seat last year.

Clark County Republican Party Chair Jesse Law also announced he was suspending his campaign for Assembly District 2 on Wednesday. He said he stepped forward to run after incumbent Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas) announced her intention to run for Congress, but she later dropped her bid.

“In the spirit of the competitive primaries that Republicans are known for, today I lead by example and stand in solidarity with the incumbent,” Law, who had not formally filed for the Assembly race, wrote in a statement Wednesday.

Law is a fixture of the county GOP and one of six so-called “fake electors” criminally charged by Nevada’s Democratic attorney general over a 2020 attempt to keep former President Donald Trump in power.

As of Thursday at 8:10 a.m., 733 candidates have filed to run for office in Nevada.

— Tabitha Mueller 8:51 a.m., Thursday, March 14

More than 700 candidates enter the 2024 election by end of Wednesday

More than 700 people are eyeing seats in the upcoming election as of Wednesday. Among those is John Lee, a former mayor of North Las Vegas, who filed to run for Congressional District 4. 

Jason Bushey and John Cardiff Gerhardt entered the race against incumbent Alexis Hansen (R-Sparks) for Assembly District 32, which covers several Northern Nevada rural counties.

Several candidates entered the Washoe County School Board race including Christopher Tabarez and Victoria Myer, who joined the District D race, and Perry Rosenstein, who entered the District G race.

 — Carly Sauvageau, 5:26 p.m., Wednesday, March 13

Former assemblyman joins Senate race

Former Assemblyman Garn Mabey (R-Las Vegas), who served three terms in Carson City from 2002 to 2008 and spent one session as the Republican caucus leader, is throwing his hat in the ring for U.S. Senate.

Mabey, a Las Vegas-based OB-GYN, said in a statement that he decided to run because he does not believe “the current front-runner can beat the incumbent,” a shot at national Republicans’ preferred candidate, Sam Brown.

— Gabby Birenbaum, 11:22 a.m. Wednesday, March 13

Open Reno state Senate seat held by Seevers Gansert drawing large candidate pool

By the end of the day Tuesday, 64 candidates had filed for office, including Assemblywoman Alexis Hansen (R-Sparks), who is running for re-election, and the chair of Nevada’s Independent American Party, Janine Hansen, who is running for U.S. Senate.

As of Wednesday at 10 a.m., 18 candidates have filed for the U.S. Senate race and, at the state legislative level, five people have filed to run in Reno’s open state Senate District 15 election — the most filings for any state legislative race. The seat is held by Sen. Heidi Seevers Gansert (R-Reno), who announced last year that she would not be running for re-election.

In total, more than 670 candidates are running for office.

— Tabitha Mueller, 10:13 a.m. Wednesday, March 13

Republican candidate for Assembly District 24 withdraws

 A Washoe County spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that Republican Dorzell Everett King Jr. withdrew from the Assembly District 24 race, leaving two candidates who have officially filed for the seat: Democrat and public defender Erica Roth and Republican Realtor Terisia Kolesnick.

— Tabitha Mueller, 4:11 p.m. Tuesday, March 12

Southern Nevada Assembly members in competitive districts file for re-election

Assemblywomen Shea Backus (D-Las Vegas) and Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas), who represent competitive Southern Nevada districts, filed for re-election Monday.

Two new candidates, former ambassador to Iceland Jeffrey Ross Gunter and Vincent Geronimo Rego, entered the U.S. Senate race as Republicans on Monday, although another GOP candidate — Sam Brown — is considered the front-runner in the party’s primary. 

Meanwhile, Las Vegas City Councilman Brian Knudsen is facing his first challenger, Miriam Gibson, in the Ward 1 race. The Reno City Council Ward 6 race gained another candidate Monday, Roy James Stoltzner, bringing the total number of candidates to seven.

— Carly Sauvageau, 3:10 p.m., Tuesday, March 12 

More than 550 candidates officially running as first week of filing wraps

By the end of Friday, 63 new candidates had filed to run in Nevada’s 2024 election, bringing the total number of candidates for state, federal and local seats in the Silver State up to 553.

The first Libertarian Party candidate to jump into the U.S. Senate race, Christopher Cunningham, filed on Friday. Other Libertarian Party candidates including David Havlicek and Timothy John Ferreira filed to run in Congressional Districts 1 and 4, respectively.

Washoe County School Board Trustee Jeff Church also filed to run for re-election on Friday. In 2021, Church was nearly censured for possible board policy violations and is known for making controversial statements against the school district and board. Other candidates who have filed to run for the seat include former teacher Christine Hull and Stephanie Flores.

Lily Baran, a housing advocate and community engagement manager for Planned Parenthood, officially filed for the Reno City Council Ward 1 seat on Friday, and Reno’s new Ward 6 became the most crowded race for the council with six candidates filing to run for the seat.

— Carly Sauvageau

Nearly 500 candidates on the ballot as of Thursday

Fifty-one candidates filed to run for office on Thursday, bringing the total number of candidates on the ballot this election cycle up to 489.

Some of those filings were expected. Assemblyman Reuben D’Silva (D-Las Vegas) had announced last year he would be running for re-election and Republican Fire Chief John Steinbeck received the governor’s endorsement in his run for the state Senate District 18 seat in September. Both filed Thursday, along with Regent Laura Perkins, who is running for re-election.

One returning candidate who filed Thursday, Republican Dorzell Everett King Jr., unsuccessfully ran for Reno’s Assembly District 24 seat in 2022.

— Tabitha Mueller, 8:37 a.m. Friday, March 8

Key candidates for open Clark County Commission seat among dozens to file Wednesday

As of the end of the day Wednesday, 47 additional candidates had filed to run with state or local officials, bringing the total number of candidates who have filed to run for public office this election cycle to 438.

Notable filings included Republican Clark County Commission C candidate April Becker, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2022, and Assembly members Elaine Marzola (D-Las Vegas) and Selena Torres (D-Las Vegas), who both filed for re-election. 

Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod (D-Las Vegas) also filed to run for Clark County Commission District C on Wednesday. The seat is open after Democratic Clark County Commissioner Ross Miller announced he would not seek re-election.

Bilbray-Axelrod is in her fourth term in the Assembly, and her seat is up in 2024.

— Tabitha Mueller, 10:36 a.m. Thursday, March 7

Former Washoe schools trustee scraps Assembly bid, backs fellow Democrat

Kurt Thigpen, a Democrat and former Washoe County School Board trustee who had previously announced a bid for Reno’s open Assembly District 24 seat, endorsed a fellow Democrat, public defender Erica Roth.

“I have made the challenging decision to step down as a candidate,” Thigpen wrote in a Wednesday Instagram post. “Instead, I am throwing my support behind Erica Roth for Assembly District 24. Ms. Roth has demonstrated the experience, tenacity, knowledge, and plans needed to achieve our shared goals, and I am confident that, with her, our community will be in good hands.”

Thigpen added that he believes Roth will help improve the state and community, and as Democrats, “we cannot lose this race.”

Roth thanked Thigpen for his endorsement in a social media post, adding, “We are stronger together.”

The district, widely considered a Democratic stronghold, is open after incumbent Assemblywoman Sarah Peters (D-Reno) announced in October that she would not be running for re-election. Peters said she was leaving so she could spend more time with her family and friends.

— Tabitha Mueller, 11:35 a.m. Wednesday, March 6

Nearly 80 candidates filed on Tuesday

As of Tuesday, 73 additional candidates had filed to run with state or local officials, bringing the total number of candidates who have filed to run for public office this election cycle to 391. 

Candidates filing on Tuesday included Democratic Senate District 5 candidate Christian Bishop, Assemblyman Ken Gray (R-Dayton), who is running for re-election, Assemblyman Richard McArthur (R-Las Vegas), who is running for state Senate District 18, and former Washoe County Commissioner Marsha Berkbiger, who is running for commissioner in Washoe County’s District 1.

Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong (D-Las Vegas) made her bid for Las Vegas’ City Council Ward 5 seat official on Tuesday, and former Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) filed for the city’s mayoral seat.

— Tabitha Mueller, 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 6.

First day of candidate filing sees 318 candidates run for public office 

As of Monday evening, 197 candidates had filed to run for public office, including Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and a bevy of state senate and Assembly candidates. Local government elections are also heating up, with multiple candidates announcing for Reno City Council, Sparks City Council, and other government elections. 

When combined with judicial filings that took place in January, 318 candidates in total are running for public office this election cycle.

— Tabitha Mueller, 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 4

Legislators file ahead of an election cycle that will determine governor's veto power

Eighteen candidates endorsed by the Assembly Democratic Caucus formally filed to run for election on Monday in Southern Nevada. 

In a speech, Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) highlighted the diversity of the caucus-backed candidates and laid out priorities for Democratic lawmakers heading into the 2025 session, including improving public education, lowering the costs of prescription drugs and utilities, addressing the housing crisis, providing free breakfast and lunches at schools and protecting “fundamental freedoms.”

“Nevada voters have a clear choice in this election,” Yeager said. “They will choose between Democrats, who are actually trying to solve problems and make life better for Nevadans, or Republicans, who offer nothing but complaints with no real solutions to any of the challenges facing Nevadans.”

His statement highlights the stakes of the election for Democrats: If the party maintains its 28-seat supermajority in the 42-member Assembly, and gains at least one seat in addition to the current 13 the party holds in the 21-member Senate, Democrats will be able to override any gubernatorial veto.

But Democrats aren’t the only ones fighting for control of the veto power — Gov. Joe Lombardo has made electing Republicans to the Legislature a priority, going so far as to dissuade Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas) from a congressional bid so she could run for re-election because it was challenging to find a viable candidate for Kasama’s Assembly district.

In a show of force, 12 Republican Assembly candidates and incumbents filed for election Monday in Southern Nevada, posing for a photograph published on X, formerly Twitter.

Lombardo quoted the post with the message, “We need each of them in Carson City next year!”

—- Tabitha Mueller, 4:27 p.m. Monday, March 4

Rep. Susie Lee among first candidates to make campaigns official in Clark County

As of early Monday afternoon, 31 candidates in Clark County have officially filed to run in the 2024 election.

The county has been posting candidate updates on its website throughout the day. Washoe County told The Nevada Independent that this evening, it will post a list of candidates who filed.

For federal offices, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) has officially filed to run for re-election, with so far only one Republican opponent — former state Sen. Elizabeth Helgelien (R-Las Vegas) — filing to run against her.

Notable legislative filings include Assembly members Toby Yurek (R-Las Vegas), Melissa Hardy (R-Henderson), Danielle Gallant (R-Las Vegas), Brian Hibbetts (R-Las Vegas) and Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas). 

Two Republican candidates have filed to run in the Clark County Commission District C seat being vacated by Ross Miller (D) — Gail Powers (R), the owner and operator of B Bar J Equestrian Training Centre, and Thomas “Wags” Wagner, a former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detective.

— Carly Sauvageau, 12:45 p.m. Monday, March 4