Control of Nevada Senate shifts to Democrats

CARSON CITY (AP) — Democrats gained control of the Nevada Senate, which has been in the hands of Republicans since 1993.

The defeats of two GOP incumbents, Sens. Bob Beers and Joe Heck, flipped a bare 11-10 Republican majority to a 12-9 margin for Democrats on Tuesday.

Voters also re-elected Democratic Sen. Steven Horsford, who has been serving as minority leader. With the shift of control caused by Beers' ouster, Horsford becomes the first black in state history to serve as majority leader in the Senate.

Voters also kept Democrats solidly in control of the state Assembly.

Major voter registration gains by Democrats resulted in the GOP losing the advantage that had favored Beers, R-Las Vegas, and Heck, R-Henderson, at the start of the year. And the state Democratic Party spent heavily on the campaign of Beers' challenger, Allison Copening, and Heck's opponent, Democrat Shirley Breeden.

The other Senate races were relatively dull by comparison.

Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, was easily re-elected thanks to a 3-to-1 Democratic registration advantage over Republicans in his district, and became majority leader as a result of Copening's victory over Beers.

Republican Sen. Bill Raggio of Reno lost the majority leader title to Horsford. But he was re-elected to a final Senate term thanks to a 2-to-1 GOP voter registration edge in his district.

For the rest of the Senate incumbents seeking re-election to four-year terms, they either had big registration edges or faced only minor-party opposition. Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, had no opposition at all.

In the lone race for an open Senate seat, a 2-to-1 voter registration advantage in the Las Vegas district helped Democrat David Parks as he moved up from the Assembly, defeating Republican Lindsay Madsen. Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, gave up the seat for her successful run for Congress.

In the Assembly, all 42 seats were up and most incumbents, whether Republican or Democrat, won new two-year terms as expected.

Incumbent Democrat David Bobzien, with a strong registration advantage in his Reno-based Assembly District 24, easily defeated Republican and prominent educator John Gwaltney.

In Carson City-based Assembly District 40, incumbent Democrat Bonnie Parnell defeated Republican Cheryl Lau, a former Nevada secretary of state, and minor-party candidate John Wagner. Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the district, although the popular Parnell had overcome that disadvantage in four previous elections.

It was a mixed bag for open Assembly seats, including districts 2, 4, 5 and 21, which had been held by Republicans; and districts 23 and 29, which had been held by Democrats.

In District 5, Democrat Marilyn Dondero Loop defeated Republican Donna Toussaint; and in District 29, Democrat April Mastroluca defeated Republican Sean Fellows.

In District 23, the GOP's Melissa Woodbury defeated Democrat Allison Herr; and in Assembly District 2, John Hambrick, the former Clark County Republican Party chairman, defeated Democrat Carlos Blumberg, a lawyer and political newcomer.

In Assembly Districts 21 and 4, two moderate Republican incumbents, Francis Allen and Bob Beers, lost in the August primary elections to more conservative GOP challengers. Allen was defeated by Richard McArthur and Beers lost to Jon Ozark.

In the general election, McArthur, a retired FBI agent, defeated Democrat Craig Ballew, a well-known educator and coach, in District 4. In District 21, Ozark was defeated by Democrat Ellen Spiegel.