Nevada voters will decide on 31 percent of the state’s District Court judges when they head to the polls in November. The remaining two-thirds were retained because they didn’t draw an opponent during the 10-day judicial candidate filing period that closed Friday.

Statewide, 155 candidates filed for election to Nevada’s judiciary, which also covered two Nevada Supreme Court seats and a handful of justices of the peace and municipal court judges. 

Clark County voters will select the judge for 20 of the 58 District Court civil/criminal and family judge positions in November.

In Washoe County, three of the 16 District Court seats will be decided by voters, one through the retirement of the sitting judge and another due to the unusual occurrence of sitting family Judge Bridget Robb giving up her Department 13 seat to file against civil/criminal Judge Kathleen Sigurdson in Department 10.

There were a couple of odd filing events in Clark County. Two of the seven District Court seats were filled Friday when a single candidate filed for the positions after the incumbent judges didn’t file for re-election.

Also, there will be a repeat of a 2024 Clark County family court race in Department N. Current Judge Kerri Maxey will face attorney Paul Michel Gaudet, who was appointed to the seat in 2023 by Gov. Joe Lombardo. Maxey won the election for the remaining two years of the term with 54 percent of the vote.

One justice court race that will draw attention is in Nye County, where suspended Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore drew three opponents: attorney Michael Foley, the substitute judge put into place a year ago by Nye County commissioners, and two non-attorney Pahrump residents — occupational therapist Scott Oakley and Richard Hamilton, who ran for the seat in 2018. 

Nevada law allows non-lawyers, such as Fiore, to serve as justices of the peace in small counties with populations of fewer than 100,000 residents. Non-attorney judges must still adhere to the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct and prevent conflicts of interest. 

The primary election will be held June 9 and the general election is Nov. 3. 

UNLV history professor Michael Green, who has long-studied Nevada elections, said it has become common for midterm elections to be a referendum on what’s happening in Washington, D.C. He said exceptions have taken place.

“I think 2026 is not going to be an exception. There will be a lot of fighting about the marquee races,” Green said. “It could filter down, especially as [campaigns] become more partisan. People are going to look at the endorsement lists [in judicial races]. They will have an impact.”

Green suggested any midterm upheaval might benefit Fiore. She received a pardon from President Donald Trump in April after being convicted in 2024 on six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud

“Having several people in the race means you’re very likely to split the vote of the people who wouldn’t vote for her,” Green said. “Where she’s running, having the [Trump] pardon does not hurt her.”

As the population grew in Clark County and judicial calendars became more packed, the Legislature added more departments. A designated family court was added in 1993 with six departments, which has grown to 26.

Green said the expansion and specialization of the courts make it difficult for voters.

“Most of the voters are not attorneys. I know attorneys who do lists of people they think we should vote for, which makes sense,” Green said.

Supreme Court justices go unopposed

Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Herndon and Justice Kristina Pickering didn’t draw opposition and were re-elected to six-year terms on the state’s highest court. They were the only members of the seven-judge panel up for election this year.

In Clark County, seven District Court judges — four from the civil/criminal division (Mark Denton, Gloria Sturman, Ron Israel and Erika Ballou) and three from the family court (Robert Teuton, Art Ritchie and Vincent Ochoa) — decided not to seek re-election. 

Colleen Brown, who has been known as Colleen Baharav in her role as Clark County deputy district attorney, was the single candidate for Ballou’s Department 24 position. Also, family law attorney Emily McFarling was the only candidate for Ritchie’s Department H seat.

Ballou is serving a six-month suspension without pay that was imposed by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline in September after she refused to comply with state Supreme Court orders in a criminal case. 

Denton, the longest-serving judge in Clark County, announced his retirement last week after 30 years in Department 13. Discovery Commissioner Adam Ganz filed for the seat Jan. 6. He was unopposed until Friday, when two candidates entered the race: attorney Robert Kurth, who has sought multiple judicial posts since 2011, and Clark County public defender Christopher Howell.

Sturman announced that she would not seek re-election to Department 26 and would retire Feb. 7. The seat drew three candidates: prosecutor Pete Thunell, state bar counsel Daniel Hooge and Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Jessica Goodey, who is in midterm.

Israel didn’t provide a reason for ending his judicial career. Two candidates will seek Department 28: Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Noreen DeMonte, who is in the midterm in her lower court seat, and attorney Danielle Tamu.

Nine Clark County civil/criminal district court judges drew opponents.

• In Department 5, Judge Veronica Barisch will face Clark County public defender Tracy Hibbetts.
• In Department 8, Judge Jessica Peterson will face prosecutor Austin Beaumont.
• In Department 12, Judge Michelle Leavitt will face Henderson attorney Dan Gilliam.
• In Department 17, Judge Jennifer Schwartz will face Clark County prosecutor Jake Villani.
• In Department 21, Judge Tara Clark Newberry will face public defender Alex Hubert.
• In Department 23, Judge Jasmin Lilly-Spells will face Martina Bauhaus, assistant general counsel for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. 
• In Department 29, Judge Jacob Reynolds will face Clark County prosecutor Alexander Quagge.
• In Department 30, Judge Jerry Wiese will face Las Vegas attorney Josh Santeramo.
• In Department 31, Judge Joana Kishner will face Las Vegas attorney Alexandra McLeon. 

Changes to the family court

In Teuton’s Department D seat, Gwynneth Smith, a prosecutor in the district attorney’s family division, will face family law attorney Patricia Marr.

Ochoa’s Department S seat drew three candidates: hearing master Randall Forman and private practice attorneys Tanner Harris and Kristine Brewer.

In addition to Maxey, four other Clark County family judges drew opponents:

• In Department E, Judge Charles Hoskin is facing Las Vegas attorney Timothy Treffinger, who ran unsuccessfully for Clark County district attorney four years ago.
• In Department P, Judge Mary Perry is facing Las Vegas attorneys Jennifer Isso and Kurt Smith. 
• In Department R, Judge Bill Henderson also drew two challengers, attorneys Nicholas Petsas and Marilyn Caston.
• In Department Z, Judge Michelle Mercer will face family law attorney Amber Candelaria.

Washoe County voters will decide two other races in addition to the Sigurdson-Robb matchup.

In Department 1, where Judge Kathleen Drakulich announced her retirement, current Justice of the Peace Derek Dreiling, who is in the middle of his term, is running against  Washoe County Probate Commissioner Edmund Gorman Jr. 

In Department 13, Reno family law attorneys Alexander Morey and Lance White are running to fill Robb’s seat.