Clark County School Board President Linda Young claims final term in District C

Outspending Clark County School Board President Linda Young and securing endorsements from the local teachers and support staff unions failed to help Adam Johnson win enough votes in Tuesday’s primary election to earn a spot on November’s general election ballot.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Johnson, a local director with Teach for America, secured just 19.9 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results reported by the the Clark County Elections Department.

Young, who faced five challengers in her bid for a third and final term to the District C seat on the school board, claimed 51.7 percent of the vote. The board oversees a $2.2 billion budget and the education of 320,000 students in the nation’s fifth-largest school district.

A change in election rules for nonpartisan races this year would have sent the top two candidates to the general election this fall — unless one wins more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Young will not appear on November’s ballot and thus claim a final term.

She could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

After early and mail-in ballot results were posted, Johnson remained optimistic that the numbers could change.

“Hopefully through all the effort we put through the last two weeks, we’ll start seeing some good traction,” Johnson said.

“I’m still optimistic that we have a long evening ahead of us,” he added. “We’ll see how it goes.”

The labor unions representing the approximately 30,000 teachers and support staff who work for the Clark County School District both endorsed Johnson. And, based on ballot counts as of 10 p.m., Johnson spent about $13 for every vote he received.

Young only spent about $3 per vote.

Mallory Levins, a college access coordinator at UNLV, also outspent District A incumbent Deanna Wright and received endorsements from the unions. She walked away, however, with just 17.9 percent of the primary vote.

Like Young, Wright faced five challengers. Unlike Young, she only received 31 percent of the vote with 100 percent of precincts reporting — not enough to avoid a general election contest.

Wright now will face Richard Vaughan, a retired high school teacher who claimed 21.6 percent of the vote, on the November ballot.

“I’m pretty happy with the results,” Wright said. “I was not underestimating any of the people running against me, so I think that I feel really good to be honest.”

In District B, incumbent Chris Garvey faced two opponents to retain her seat on the board, but neither candidate mounted a credible campaign. With 54.1 percent of the primary vote, Garvey has escaped a general election contest.

With no primary contest, District E Trustee Patrice Tew will face research consultant Lola Brooks on the November ballot.

Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton