Republican treasurer's primary marked by personal attacks, allegations of fraud

The Republican treasurer's primary race in Nevada has quietly become one of the most heated competitions this cycle, with the candidates sparring not only about their financial know-how but also about obscure cryptocurrencies and one contender's spouse. 

The race is between policy analyst Drew Johnson — who narrowly lost a 2022 Clark County Commission race and a 2024 bid to unseat Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) — and longtime financial executive Jeff Carter, 64, who moved to Nevada in 2020 from Illinois and has not previously run for office. Johnson has lived in Nevada for nearly a decade, according to his website.

Whoever wins the primary this June will face the winner of a similarly competitive Democratic primary in the general election later this fall. That person will take the seat left open by termed-out Treasurer Zach Conine (D), who is running for attorney general.  

As Nevada's chief banker, the treasurer is charged with overseeing state investments, maintaining records of unclaimed property and helping decide when to issue bonds. It also administers the Millennium Scholarship program and facilitates tax-advantaged savings programs for future college students and people with disabilities.

Both have taken drastically different approaches to the role. Johnson pointed to his background as a policymaker — he founded a conservative think tank in Tennessee and worked as a policy analyst for the National Taxpayers Union — while Carter touted his time as a trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Carter told The Indy he believes the "treasurer's job is not a policy job. It's a technical job." 

Johnson said the opposite is true. 

"Investing is such a small part of what the treasurer does," Johnson said about his opponent. "The treasurer is an administrative job. … It makes me worried that he thinks it's a job where you day trade."

The competition has escalated to personal spats between the two. In January, Johnson posted on X that Carter attacked his wife's infertility in a social media post. 

It came after Johnson praised his wife, Sarah, for working to prevent transgender girls from competing in women's sports. Carter responded to the post by saying that "in the battle to keep men out of women's sports," some try to suggest "their family paid a price ... when they don't have children."

In an interview with The Indy, Carter denied he attacked Johnson's wife and accused his opponent of claiming victimhood and "manufacturing drama." 

In April, Carter's attorneys filed an FEC complaint against Johnson, alleging he filed false campaign finance reports by failing to disclose stock purchases as well as a mortgage liability. Johnson called the complaint "a desperate political stunt" and said that the discrepancy was the result of a transaction taking "a few days to liquidate."  

Meanwhile, Johnson has called out Carter's ties to LGBCoin, a cryptocurrency named after the anti-Biden slogan "Let's Go Brandon" and called him a "failed investor." The coin was subject to a House ethics investigation, and in 2022, Carter was listed in a class-action lawsuit involving LGBCoin. 

Plaintiffs said that prices were artificially inflated on a cryptocoin by its creators for personal gain. Carter was originally listed as co-founder of the company, but he was eventually dropped from the suit in 2023. He told The Indy he had "no participation in it at all."

Carter has reported raising $222,800 in the first three months of 2026. More than $70,300 came from a loan to himself, although he also received $2,500 from Southwest Gas and has more than $192,000 in cash on hand. The majority of his direct donations come from out of state, including Illinois, where he previously lived. 

Johnson, meanwhile, reported raising more than $7,600 and has almost $32,000 in cash on hand. He has picked up endorsements from the Washoe Republican Party, and in his 2024 race against Lee, Johnson was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Trump has not yet weighed in on the GOP treasurer primary.

On the issues: 

Millenium Scholarship

One of the largest discussions in the treasurer's race is funding for Nevada's Millennium Scholarship. The program, which has served more than 177,000 Nevada college students since it was established, is expected to no longer cover all eligible students by next year as its funding — based on dwindling revenue from a settlement with big tobacco companies — has become increasingly unstable.

Johnson said he would like to create a system to automatically return unclaimed property, up to $300, such as uncashed checks and stock accounts, to individuals. He said would like to direct a portion of remaining unclaimed property funds in a trust to funding the scholarship. 

Carter said he believes the program is unsustainable and needs to be overhauled. He opposes the idea of using unclaimed property to fund the program. He said he wants to work with the Legislature on a sustainable solution for the program, which costs the state between $37 million to $39 million annually. 

"It can't be just a giveaway," Carter said. "Let's keep it, but let's figure out a real way to fund it."

Housing affordability

Candidates across the aisle agree that Nevada's State Infrastructure Bank — which has played a key role in financing affordable housing projects — hasn't been sufficiently funded to meet public need. Since it was established in 2017, it has received minimal funding from the Legislature.

Johnson said he is worried that rural communities are being forgotten by the bank and said he would like to spur more projects in small towns, especially in the north and in mining communities. 

"I'm really focused on trying to make sure that the infrastructure bank goes to those kinds of places that I think have been forgotten," Johnson said. 

Carter called the bank "functionally bankrupt." As a revolving fund, he took issue with the bank funding projects such as homeless shelters, saying that such projects would provide insufficient returns to reinvest money into the state. He said that to address housing affordability, he would like to bring more transparency to who owns Nevada housing and optimize municipal bonds to lower the cost of development. 

"We got to take care of the homeless," Carter said. "But should that be a State Infrastructure Bank thing? Because how is a homeless shelter going to put money back into the state?"

Investments

Conine divested the state from assault weapon manufacturers in 2022, a move that concerned Johnson and Carter. 

Carter said the divestment strategy has cost the state and he believes in "return on assets and not return on virtue." He said that as treasurer, he would prioritize return on investments and would like to make the state's investment portfolio more transparent for the public. 

Johnson echoed Carter and said his goal would be "to invest in what gets us money safely and a good return, regardless of what it is." He said he has considered opportunities for people to pay local and state taxes and fees with gold to protect against inflation, such as in Utah and Texas.

 Updated at 1:09 p.m. on 5/8/2026 to correct that the treasurer is Nevada's chief banker