Governor
Why it matters
The governor is the head of the executive branch in Nevada and is constitutionally granted the “supreme executive power of this State.” This person is elected every four years by popular vote and limited to two terms. They have the power to approve or veto laws approved by the Legislature, grant pardons and are considered the commander in chief of the state’s military forces. The governor is also granted the power to fill certain vacancies, can call the Legislature into session and serves on several major boards. With the duty of preparing the state’s two-year executive budget every two years, and the Legislature’s tendency to fine-tune it rather than change it wholesale, the governor wields immense power in setting the agenda and state priorities. In times of crisis, such as the pandemic, the governor can invoke sweeping emergency powers, including setting a statewide mask mandate. About 50 employees work directly for the governor.
Why you should care
Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) is seeking re-election to a second term after successfully blocking record-breaking numbers of bills passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Meanwhile, Democrats hope disapproval of President Donald Trump helps them unseat Lombardo amid a contentious political climate and complaints about high gas prices, rising health care costs and a continued dearth of affordable housing. The governor’s campaign apparatus has sought to highlight his efforts in education, health care, public safety and the economy, while criticizing his likely top Democratic challenger, Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), over Ford’s frequent out-of-state travels. Meanwhile, Ford is facing a substantive primary against Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill (D), who is painting herself as an alternative to the status quo. If Democrats maintain majorities in the Legislature and flip the governor’s seat, they would have the ability to more easily achieve their agenda.
Democrats
Aaron Ford
Ford has served as attorney general since 2019. He was elected to the state Senate in 2012, finishing his tenure as majority leader. Ford previously worked for a personal injury law firm in Las Vegas.
Alexis Hill
Hill is in her second term as Washoe County Commissioner. Before taking office in 2020, Hill worked in city planning and public policy for more than a decade in Sparks and Reno, and worked for a variety of nonprofits and universities.
Miqehl Bayfield
Bayfield is a student at Western Governors University studying human resources. On her website, she says the “training informs her approach to state government.”
Sunshine Arterburn
Candidate website could not be found.
Emile Bouari
Candidate website could not be found.
James Cooper
Candidate website could not be found.
Attorney General
Why it matters
The attorney general is Nevada’s chief legal officer, and represents the people of the state in civil and criminal matters before trial and appellate courts in Nevada and the United States. The office also provides legal advice to state agencies and officers through numerous “deputy attorneys general” with specialized expertise, and can help county, local or national law enforcement agencies in investigations or court cases.
The attorney general’s office also has several divisions focused on areas such as consumer protection, Medicaid and insurance fraud, and takes the lead on joining and negotiating Nevada’s position in major multi-state lawsuits and settlements. The office employs about 400 people. Attorneys general are limited to two four-year terms.
Why you should care
For the first time in eight years, the attorney general seat is open. Incumbent Democrat Aaron Ford is termed out and running for governor, and two Democrats and two Republicans are running to replace him. On the Democratic side, Treasurer Zach Conine and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) are squaring off in a primary between two longtime political adversaries. In the Republican race, Douglas County Commissioner Danny Tarkanian is facing governor-endorsed Adriana Guzmán Fralick, an attorney and former chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board. A key issue in the race is whether Nevada supports or sues the Trump administration. Ford has been part of myriad lawsuits against the administration, and both Democratic candidates have highlighted their efforts to stymie the effects of Trump’s policies. The GOP candidates, however, have jockeyed to paint themselves as the most supportive of Trump.
Democrats
Nicole Cannizzaro
Cannizzaro has represented Senate District 6 since 2016 and has served as Senate Democratic leader since 2019. A lifelong Nevadan born in Las Vegas, she worked for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for 11 years.
Zach Conine
Conine was elected state treasurer in 2018. Prior to elected office, he co-founded a management consulting firm and was an executive at several gaming companies while attending UNLV's Boyd School of Law at night. He was admitted to the bar in 2015.
Republicans
Adriana Guzmán Fralick
Guzmán Fralick is a lawyer who has served in myriad positions in local and state government, including as general counsel to former GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons. She most recently served as chair of the state’s Cannabis Compliance Board.
Danny Tarkanian
Tarkanian is an attorney, Douglas County Commissioner and the son of former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. He’s known for making multiple unsuccessful bids for office over the past two decades.
Treasurer
Why it matters
The treasurer serves as the state of Nevada’s chief financial officer, meaning this person is charged with overseeing state investments, including a portfolio of about $7 billion in state investments. They also accept, safeguard and disburse all money received by the state and allocated through the state’s budget. Additionally, they serve as the state’s representative in dealing with bond credit rating agencies and for issuing any bonds in the name of the state. The office has several divisions, including ones focused on unclaimed property, college savings accounts and the Millenium Scholarship for college-bound Nevada high school graduates. Treasurers are allowed to serve two four-year terms. About 26 people work in the treasurer’s office. While the job deals with state money, the treasurer does not have a direct role in creating the state budget or setting tax policy.
Why you should care
The Millennium Scholarship, a merit-based award that has helped more than 177,000 Nevada students since its establishment, is expected to become insolvent in 2027. Candidates for the treasurer’s office have provided alternative visions for its future. Current Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine has endorsed Tya Mathis-Coleman, who has served as executive director of the scholarship and said that she hopes to increase private partnerships to support the program. Her primary challenger, one-term legislator Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson) has proposed redirecting some unclaimed property funds to support the program. Affordability and rising costs of living are also top of mind for voters. Republican policy analyst Drew Johnson, considered the Republican primary’s front-runner after narrowly losing close contests for Congressional District 3 and Clark County Commission in two previous cycles, has pushed for strengthening financial education and lowering borrowing costs.
Democrats
Joe Dalia
An attorney who previously interned for former Sen. Harry Reid, Dalia started his legal career advising tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Meta, on legal issues. He attended Southern Nevada schools and returned to the area in 2019. He currently represents Assembly District 29.
Jay Maharjan
Jay Maharjan is a public high school teacher in East Las Vegas and formerly led Nevada’s region for the Obama administration’s Startup America Initiative.
Tya Mathis-Coleman
Mathis-Coleman is the deputy treasurer of college savings — a division in the state treasurer’s office that oversees prepaid tuition, 529 plans and student loan programs — and is executive director of the Millennium Scholarship.
Republicans
Jeff Carter
Carter is a businessman and venture capitalist who spent 25 years as a professional trader in Chicago.
Drew Johnson
Johnson was a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and a national director of Protect Internet Freedom. He is a contributing columnist at Newsmax Media, Inc. and The Washington Times.
Representative In Congress, District 2
Why you should care
For the first time in eight years, Nevada is guaranteed to send a new representative to Congress. After incumbent Mark Amodei announced his surprise retirement from the state’s only solidly Republican district, 25 candidates are vying to replace him. James Settelmeyer (R), former director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is the governor’s and Amodei’s favorite for the seat. But the one-time state Senate minority leader has faced charges of being insufficiently conservative from supporters of opponent David Flippo (R), who swapped races after previously aiming for the 4th District. Meanwhile, Democrats say this year presents a prime opportunity to flip the Northern Nevada seat. Former Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D) and 2024 nonpartisan candidate Greg Kidd (D) are both running.
Democrats
Teresa Benitez-Thompson
Benitez-Thompson was most recently chief of staff to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and previously served as the Assembly Democratic majority leader in 2017 and 2019. She represented Assembly District 27 beginning in 2010, is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked in hospice and adoption and won the Miss Nevada pageant in 2002.
Greg Kidd
Kidd, an entrepreneur and former analyst at the Federal Reserve, is mounting a self-funded campaign. Kidd has founded multiple tech-focused startups and currently serves as CEO of Hard Yaka Ventures, which makes early round investments in technology companies. He ran for this seat in 2024 as a nonpartisan candidate.
Kathy Durham
Durham is a history, government and economics teacher who grew up in Utah and moved to Nevada in 2000. She previously served on the West Wendover City Council and is a mom, stepmom and grandma.
Matthew Fonken
Born on an Arkansas horse farm, Fonken was previously the Nevada Democratic Party’s executive director and has organized in rural communities. He has also been a legislative aide in the state Assembly.
Josh Hebert
Hebert has a physics Ph.D., trains AI, and is focused on getting money out of politics. He recently moved back to Nevada, where his father’s family is from.
Mark Jolle
Jolle is a small business owner with a background in archaeology and the trades who moved to Nevada 20 years ago.
Morgan Wadsworth
Wadsworth is a student who decided to go into politics as a 26-year-old after observing the systemic problems in health care while previously on the pre-med track.
Samuel White
White describes himself as a working-class Nevadan born and raised in Carson City. He is passionate about universal health care after dealing with an autoimmune disorder.
Gamaliel "Gamy" Z. Enriquez
Enriquez has experience as the owner of a small coffee business and has studied international relations and public policy. He comes from an immigrant family and rebuilt his life after becoming homeless during the Great Recession.
Gerold Lee Gorman
Gorman has worked in broadcasting, software development, and education and moved to Reno in 2013. He is a former Bernie Sanders delegate who ran for this seat in 2022.
Johnny Kerns
Kerns is a former homicide investigator and true crime author who lost a state Senate primary bid in 2024.
Republicans
David Flippo
Flippo, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, is a financial adviser in Las Vegas. Previously, he worked for oil and gas company BP in Alaska.
James Settelmeyer
A fourth-generation Nevadan, Settelmeyer was most recently director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under Gov. Joe Lombardo. He represented Senate District 16 from 2010 through 2022, Assembly District 39 from 2006 through 2010 and is the past chair of the Nevada State Conservation Commission and the Carson Valley Conservation District.
Tom Doyle
Doyle has lived in Nevada for half a century and worked in the casino industry for the bulk of that time, frequently as an executive.
George Forbush
Forbush is a retired Sparks police officer who received a settlement from the city after being disciplined over personal tweets amid the protests of summer 2020.
Andrea Lowe
Lowe is a member of the Lander County School Board and a board director for the Nevada Association of School Boards. Her family has been in Nevada for generations.
Rick Shepherd
Shepherd describes himself as a lifelong Nevadan who takes no special interest or foreign lobby money and is pro-Palestine. He ran for this seat as a Democrat in 2020.
Fred Simon
Simon is a trauma surgeon and small businessman who lives in Gardnerville. He was previously a medical director at a San Diego trauma center, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2014, for governor in 2022 and for this seat in 2024.
Mike Smith
Smith is a retired U.S. Navy captain who has worked as Nevada’s U.S. Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer and as a commercial airline pilot. He is now a senior tactical systems analyst for the Navy and has two daughters.
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Sherman Tylawsky
Tylawsky is a graduate student who founded The George Washington Institute, which aims to spread lessons from leaders in American history.
Jesse Watts
Watts is a former Eureka County sheriff who faced recall efforts in that role. His website states he is now executive director of a nonprofit that cares for law enforcement officers wounded on the job.
Jennifer Billat
Billat is a mom, youth soccer coach and small business owner who was born and raised in Nevada and is campaigning on lands issues.
Bruce Grego
Grego is a lawyer and former South Lake Tahoe city councilman who moved to Carson City in 2023.
Jerry Olsen
Olsen’s website describes him as a retired Army medic and retired Washoe County deputy sheriff who will run a grassroots campaign and not accept any donations.
Other
Lynn Chapman
Chapman is treasurer of the Nevada Independent American Party. She ran for this seat in 2024.
County Commissioner, District F
Democrats
Serena Kumar
Kumar is a luxury goods management professional and a first-generation Indian-American. She is dedicated to addressing Clark County’s needs in food security, housing, and healthcare access through community-focused leadership and operations.
Minddie Lloyd
A former Republican, Lloyd is the founder of Bamboo Bridges, a nonprofit organization focused on combating human trafficking and domestic violence. She is endorsed by County Commissioners Justin Jones and Tick Segerblom.
Sebastian Crawford
Educated as a mechanical engineer, Crawford said he wants to increase minimum wage and lower cost of living.
Lenna Hovanessian
Hovanessian, who fled war as a child, is an attorney for the Armenian National Committee of America. She is an advocate for Armenian issues and co-drafted Nevada’s Holocaust and Armenian Genocide Education Bill in 2021.
Justin Lieberknecht
Lieberknecht, a real estate marketing consultant, has experience working for Zillow and Caesars Entertainment. He holds a masters degree in psychology from New York University.
Michael Robert Wall
Candidate website could not be found.
Minja Yan
Yan is a former adjunct professor at UNLV working in commercial real estate development. Recently, she led the Chinatown Redevelopment Plan in Las Vegas.
Republicans
Heidi Kasama
A real estate agent and former president of Nevada Realtors, Kasama has served in the Assembly since 2020. She is seeking re-election and is endorsed by the Assembly Republican Caucus.
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Albert Mack
Mack has a background as a real estate agent though he now works in casino management and food and beverage management for the Wynn. Mack’s grandfather was Jerome Mack, a banker and investor who helped shape the Las Vegas Strip.
Other
Becky Harris
Harris is a former Republican state senator as well as a former chair for the Nevada Gaming Control Board — the first woman to hold the position. She currently teaches at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.
Brian Baron
A small business owner of an audio visual company since 2008, Baron lives in the Rural Estates area of Enterprise.
Mayor, City Of RenoNonpartisan
Why it matters
The Reno mayor leads the city council of Nevada’s third-largest city. They hold one out of seven council votes and also hold sway in setting council meeting agendas and determining the overall vision of the city’s future and helping craft the city budget. Mayors hold four-year terms and cannot serve for more than 12 years. The top two candidates in the June primary will advance to the November general election.
Why you should care
This is the first time the mayoral seat has been open since incumbent Hillary Schieve took office in 2014. It comes at a time when the city is in a precarious financial position that will require long-term changes to avoid budget cuts every year. Residents have long expressed concerns about the availability of affordable housing and the state of the downtown area, with the city’s approval of data centers also an emerging issue. Some of the candidates include Reno City Council Members Devon Reese and Kathleen Taylor, Nevada’s former Democratic treasurer and Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall and perennial mayoral candidate Eddie Lorton.
Kate Marshall
Marshall is the former state treasurer and lieutenant governor. She most recently served under President Joe Biden as a White House senior adviser, where she was a liaison to governors.
Devon Reese
Reese is an attorney specializing in employment law who has served on the Reno City Council since 2020.
Kathleen Taylor
Taylor is the Reno vice mayor who has served on the Reno City Council since 2022. She is also the owner of a management consulting company.
Eddie Lorton
Lorton is the owner of a carpet cleaning business who has run for mayor in the last three elections.
Greg "Nutt" Nuttle
Nuttle is from Indiana and has worked as the director of graduate student services at UNR.
Tim Ross
Ross was a sergeant with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and was president of the executive board of the Washoe County Sheriff Deputies Association.
Corinthia Yancey
Yancey is a small business owner and a former law enforcement officer.
Jesse Razo
Candidate website could not be found.
John Wayne Zink
Candidate website could not be found.
Washoe County District Attorney
Why it matters
The Washoe County district attorney is the top prosecutor in Nevada’s second-largest county. This person holds considerable sway in charging and plea bargaining policies, including in decisions on whether to seek the death penalty, and sets the overall expectations of the county’s judicial system. District attorneys are elected to four-year terms and are not subject to term limits.
Why you should care
This is the first time that incumbent District Attorney Chris Hicks (R) is facing a challenger since first entering office in 2014. He is facing Wes Duncan (R), a former Nevada assemblymember and the GOP nominee for attorney general in 2018. They are the only two candidates, and because no Democrats are running, the winner of the June race will take office. Central to the race is a plea bargaining and charging policy that Hicks instituted several years ago. Some in the Washoe County legal community have argued that it has led to a surge in criminal trials that is overwhelming the court system, as well as letting more suspected criminals off the hook. Hicks has defended the policy, arguing it is striking the difficult balance of protecting victims and ensuring that people are not wrongfully prosecuted. The bitter primary has also included allegations of nepotism and ethics violations against Hicks and criticisms of various decisions to not pursue criminal charges.
Republicans
Chris Hicks
IncumbentHicks has served as district attorney since 2014. His father was also district attorney and a federal judge.
Wes Duncan
Duncan is the Sparks city attorney and former Nevada assemblymember. He is also an Air Force veteran.