Incumbent Clark County commissioners hold early leads

One Clark County commissioner was trailing in his bid for re-election on Wednesday evening, while two others were ahead in their races, preliminary election results show.

Commissioner Justin Jones was trailing his Republican challenger, Drew Johnson, in District F, 51 percent to 49 percent.

Commissioners Jim Gibson and Tick Segerblom were leading in their races, however.

Commissioners, who govern the 13th largest county in the United States, are currently all Democrats; there hasn’t been a Republican on the commission since Bruce Woodbury was forced out by term limits in 2008.

District F

Johnson cited ideological diversity as one of his main reasons for running for office a first time in District F, which spans the areas from Chinatown to Mountain’s Edge and from Red Rock Canyon to Sandy Valley,

Johnson told the Review-Journal that he was “cautiously optimistic” that his lead will hold, adding that he was “very proud of the campaign we’ve run.”

Despite an election that favored Democrats, he said, his message of government accountability resonated with voters.

Jones expressed the same sentiment.

“I continue to be grateful for the diligent people who run our election process in a transparent and professional manner,” Jones wrote in a text message Wednesday. “I remain cautiously optimistic that when all votes are counted I will be re-elected by the voters of commission district F.”

From July to the end of September, Johnson’s campaign had raised more than $110,000 and had about $76,000 in its coffers, according to records. Jones had raised about $270,000 and had nearly $950,000 available.

Jones, a former state senator elected to the board in 2018, has touted the county’s pandemic recovery, economic development and quality of life improvements, and said he looked forward to continue the work.

To help boost the economy, Johnson, a senior fellow at a conservative think tank, said he would advocate to ease red tape for small business owners. And as an experienced government watchdog, he said he would keep an eye on how federal pandemic-related dollars are dispersed.

Last month, Johnson filed a complaint with the secretary of state alleging that Jones lied about Johnson’s stances in campaign ads.

District G

Gibson is trying to fend off a challenge from Navy veteran Billy Mitchell. The Republican nominee said he was fed up with “career politicians.”

Mitchell said Gibson, and the commission as a whole, did not break party lines when implementing COVID-19 mandates, which Mitchell said harmed the economy.

The candidates are vying to represent District G in the southeast valley, which includes Henderson.

Gibson led with 52.60 percent of the vote compared with Mitchell’s 45.30 percent. Libertarian Party candidate Jesse Welsh had obtained about 2 percent.

The incumbent declined to comment, and Welsh did not respond to an email seeking reaction.

“I’m really happy with my family and friends that supported me on this,” Mitchell said Wednesday. “I’m happy with the results so far, and I think I represented our community and at a minimum kind of exposed some of the things going on.”

He said he would continue to await final results and that he wasn’t “disgruntled” with the initially unfavorable returns.

Gibson is a seasoned public official who was mayor of Henderson and lost a bid for governor in the Democratic primary in 2006. He was appointed to the commission after Mary Beth Scow resigned in 2017, and won the seat during the 2018 mid-term elections.

He previously told the Review-Journal that that the commission is in the “middle of virtually every major issue that affects our lives,” and that water and affordable housing shortage were on top of his list.

Gibson raised $169,500 last quarter, and had about $690,000 in campaign funds remaining. Mitchell raised no funds and had $167.34 left.

District E

Segerblom is being challenged by a trio of candidates, including an independent who ran a tight race against him in the 2018 Democratic primary.

He led with 52 percent of the vote.

Segerblom told the Review-Journal Wednesday afternoon that he was confident that he would win when the vote count was completed. “I’m very happy to be re-elected and look forward to serving four more years.”

Marco Hernandez, the vice president of the Laborers Local 872, said he never stopped campaigning to replace the commissioner.

The labor leader, who had 7.80 percent of the vote, said the people in District E, which includes part of the Strip and the predominantly Latino east Las Vegas, is divided and that “people are fed up” about how neglected it is. He did not respond to a mesage seeking comment.

Segerblom, a former state legislator instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in Nevada, said that the pandemic hampered much of his first term, but hopes to continue working on the job he enjoys.

Republican nominee Jon Rider — with 38.4 percent of the vote — said that although he knew how serious the pandemic was, he could’ve been a critical and possible dissenting voice with the policies implemented, which he said went too far.

Rider touted receiving nearly 23,000 votes in a heavily-Democratic district with no political experience, campaign contributions or ads.

“I’d say hopefully this is a message to him that there’s people in his district who care about things other than his current agenda,” he wrote in a text message.

Randy Rose, of the Independent American Party, proposes expanding the Las Vegas monorail valleywide and connect it to bus routes. The retired stockbroker also said he would explore connecting Lake Tahoe to Lake Mead via an “aqueduct” to address water shortages.

Rose, who had 1.8 percent of the vote, congratulated Segerblom in an email statement to the Review-Journal. “The people of E rejected my ideas, so that means no water for Lake Mead, no mass rail transit, and no Las Vegas International Airport…”

Segerblom led in fundraising the last quarter, raising about $179,000, with about $350 in his coffers.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.