Nye County Commission appoints deputy clerk to oversee elections

Nye County’s Board of County Commissioners appointed a new county clerk this week to replace Mark Kampf, who is resigning and will leave office March 31.

Cori Freidhof, a deputy clerk who has worked in the clerk’s office for five years, was appointed by a unanimous 5-0 vote. Her new role will be effective April 1.

“The clerk’s office is a lot more than just elections, but elections is my passion,” she told the board at its meeting this week. She listed the other responsibilities of the clerk’s office, such as issuing marriage licenses and keeping records for different departments and boards.

Freidhof has worked under the past two clerks: Kampf and Sandra Merlino. Before working in the clerk’s office, Freidhof worked for four and a half years in the county’s treasurer’s office and five years in the clerk’s office.

“I work with an amazing group of people and hope that through my leadership we can all come together as a team to perform all the responsibilities that fall under the purview of the clerk’s office,” she wrote in her letter of intent.

The board was choosing among several candidates, including Freidhof, Kayla Ball, Leonardo Blundo, Andrew Caccavale, Douglas Dubin, William Hockstedler and William Stark.

During the meeting, Nye County residents voiced their opinion on which candidate they thought would be best, and many spoke in favor of Freidhof for her experience working in the clerk’s office.

“The question that you asked all the candidates was, ‘If you walked into the office tomorrow, would you be able to hit the ground running?’ And I think the only candidate who could do that would be Cori,” said Sheree Stringer, the county assessor.

Kampf also recommended Freidhof as his replacement.

“Without Cori, the presidential preference primary wouldn’t have gone off at all,” Kampf said. She knows the systems, has been getting involved with the secretary of state’s office, and has been instrumental in providing recommendations for improvement in the new system, he said.

“The clerk’s job is a lot of hard work,” Kampf said. “It’s not politics. … it’s rolling up your shirt sleeves and doing the work.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.