Nevada State Senate elections, 2018

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Elections in Nevada, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9 (mail), Oct. 16 (in-person), or Oct. 18 (online)
• Early voting: Oct. 20 - Nov. 2
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: No
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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2018 Nevada Senate elections
General	November 6, 2018
Primary	June 12, 2018

Past election results

2016・2014・2012・2010・2008 2006・2004・2002・2000

2018 elections
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Democrats maintained their majority in the 2018 elections for the Nevada State Senate, as, after the election, they controlled 13 seats to Republicans' eight.

Eleven of 21 Senate seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Democrats held 10 seats to Republicans' eight, with one seat held by an independent and two vacancies.

Ballotpedia identified three of the races as battlegrounds, including one Democratic-held district, one Republican-held district, and the one independent-held district. Democrats won all three battlegrounds.

Heading into the election, Nevada had been under divided government since 2017 when Democrats took control of the Nevada State Assembly and the Nevada State Senate. This broke the state's Republican trifecta that first formed after the 2014 elections.

Democrats needed to win the governor's office to have a trifecta, while Republicans needed to win the state Assembly and state Senate. The last Democratic trifecta in Nevada occurred in 1992. Had the Republican Party taken the chamber, it would have prevented a Democratic trifecta from forming in Nevada.

Because state senators in Nevada serve four-year terms, winning candidates in this election served through 2022 and played a role in the state's redistricting process and a role in referring legislative constitutional amendments to the ballot. In Nevada, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. The Nevada Legislature can put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot for voter ratification through a majority vote in both chambers in two consecutive legislative sessions. Read more here.

The Nevada State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers with elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. The Nevada State Senate was also one of 22 state legislative battleground chambers identified by Ballotpedia in the 2018 elections. Read more below.

For more information about the Democratic primaries, click here.
For more information about the Republican primaries, click here.

Post-election analysis

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

The Democratic Party maintained control of both chambers of the Nevada State Legislature in the 2018 election. The party gained supermajority status in the state Assembly. The Nevada State Senate was identified as a battleground chamber. Eleven of the 21 state Senate seats were up for election. Democrats increased their majority in the Nevada State Senate. Before the election, Democrats held 10 seats, Republicans held eight seats, an independent held one seat, and two seats were vacant. Following the election, Democrats held 13 seats and Republicans held eight seats. No incumbents were defeated in the general election.

The Nevada State Assembly held elections for all 42 seats. The Democratic majority in the State Assembly increased from 27-14 to 29-13. One seat was vacant before the election. One Republican incumbent was defeated in the primary and two Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.

National background

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

• Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

Want more information?

• Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
• 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
• 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
• 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities

Districts

See also: Nevada state legislative districts

Use the interactive map below to find your district.

Candidates

See also: Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

General election candidates

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Primary election candidates

2018 Nevada State Senate primary candidates
District	Democrat	Republican	Other
2	Moises Denis (I) a	Calvin Border a
8	Stephanie Alvarado Marilyn Dondero Loop a	Elizabeth Helgelien Dan Rodimer Valerie Weber a
9	Larry McCullough Justin Rebollo Melanie Scheible a Brandon West	Tiffany Jones a
10	Yvanna Cancela (I) a Bryce Henderson	No candidate
12	Craig Jordahl a	Joseph Hardy (I) a
13	Julia Ratti (I) a	No candidate
14	Wendy Boszak a	Ira Hansen a
16	Tina Davis-Hersey a	Ben Kieckhefer (I) a Gary Schmidt
17	Curtis Cannon a	James Settelmeyer (I) a
20	Paul Aizley Julie Pazina a	Byron Brooks Keith Pickard a
21	Jay Craddock Christine Glazer James Ohrenschall a	Ron McGinnis a
Notes	• An (I) denotes an incumbent.
	• Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our Elections Project.

Margins of victory

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 Nevada State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

• Elections won
• Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
• Elections won without opposition
• Average margin of victory

Nevada State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis
Party	Elections won	Elections won by less than 10%	Unopposed elections	Average margin of victory
Democratic	6	1	1	27.6%
Republican	5	1	0	20.6%
Other	0	0	0	N/A
Total	11	2	1	24.1%

The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).

Nevada State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory by District
District	Winning Party	Losing Party	Margin of Victory
Nevada State Senate District 20	Republican	Democratic	0.0%
Nevada State Senate District 8	Democratic	Republican	3.3%
Nevada State Senate District 9	Democratic	Republican	11.2%
Nevada State Senate District 16	Republican	Democratic	14.8%
Nevada State Senate District 14	Republican	Democratic	21.1%
Nevada State Senate District 12	Republican	Democratic	23.3%
Nevada State Senate District 21	Democratic	Republican	24.0%
Nevada State Senate District 13	Democratic	Independent American Party	40.7%
Nevada State Senate District 17	Republican	Democratic	43.7%
Nevada State Senate District 2	Democratic	Republican	59.0%
Nevada State Senate District 10	Democratic	None	Unopposed

Seats flipped

See also: State legislative seats that changed party control, 2018

The below map displays each seat in the Nevada State Senate which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2018, Nevada State Senate
District	Incumbent	2018 winner	Direction of flip
Nevada State Senate District 8	Patricia Farley	Marilyn Dondero Loop	Independent to D
Nevada State Senate District 9	Becky Harris	Melanie Scheible	R to D

Incumbents retiring

Five incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018. Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Office
Patricia Farley	Nonpartisan	Senate District 8
Becky Harris	Republican	Senate District 9
Don Gustavson	Republican	Senate District 14
Michael Roberson	Republican	Senate District 20
Mark Manendo	Democratic	Senate District 21

2018 battleground chamber

See also: State legislative battleground chambers, 2018

Ballotpedia identified the Nevada State Senate as one of 22 battleground chambers in 2018. These were chambers that we anticipated to be, overall, more competitive than other chambers and had the potential to see significant shifts in party control.

The chamber was selected because it met the following conditions:

• Competitive seats: Ballotpedia identified three seats that were expected to be competitive in 2018. Two of the districts had close margins of victory in 2014 and one saw its member switch her partisan affiliation from Republican to independent in 2016. See the 2018 races to watch here.

• Competitive statewide races: Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), who has served as governor since 2010, was term-limited in 2018. Electoral ratings organizations expected the race to succeed Sandoval to be competitive between the two parties. Heading into the election, Sabato's Crystal Ball had rated it as a "Toss-up." The governor's office was controlled by a Democrat from 1992 to 1998. Read more about the 2018 gubernatorial race here.

• U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R) was expected to have a closely-contested re-election bid, with his race being rated a "Toss-up" by Sabato's Crystal Ball, heading into the election. Read more about Nevada's 2018 U.S. Senate race here.

• Majority held less than 55 percent of seats: Heading into the election, Democrats controlled 10 of 21 seats in the chamber, which is 47.6 percent.

• Partisan balance of seats up for election: Four of the 11 seats up in 2018 were controlled by Democrats. Six were controlled by Republicans. One was controlled by an independent.

• Recent party control switches: This chamber flipped party control three times between 2008 and 2016. It flipped from Republican to Democratic control in 2008, back to Republican control in 2014, and then to Democratic control in 2016.
  
  

Party control: 2006 - 2016
Election Year:	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016
Winning Party:	R	D	D	D	R	D

Battleground races

Nevada State Senate Battleground races
Democratic seats
District 21
Republican seats
District 9
Independent seats
District 8

Ballotpedia identified three battleground races in the Nevada State Senate 2018 elections: one Democratic seat, one Republican seat, and one independent seat. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly have led to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.

To determine state legislative battleground races in 2018, Ballotpedia looked for races that fit one or more of the four factors listed below:

1. If the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in the most recent election prior to 2018
2. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent’s margin of victory in the previous election was 10 percentage points or less
3. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections and the incumbent did not file to run for re-election
4. If the presidential candidate opposite of the incumbent's party won the district in the 2016 elections by 20 points or more

Other factors could also cause a race to be classified as a battleground. For example, Ballotpedia may have considered an election to be a battleground race if an outside group or a national or state party announced that they were targeting a specific seat in order to flip it. We may have also determined a race to be a battleground if it received an unusual amount of media attention. Two additional factors were open seats and districts impacted by redistricting.

District 8

Who won this race?

Democrat Marilyn Dondero Loop defeated Republican Valerie Weber.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

An independent member held the seat

Who were the candidates running?

Marilyn Dondero Loop Valerie Weber

What made this a battleground race?

This district was highlighted because of the incumbent's partisan change following the 2016 elections. Incumbent Patricia Farley (I) was first elected as a Republican in 2014. She received 57.0 percent of the vote and defeated her Democratic challenger by 18.0 points. When Democrats won an 11-10 majority in the 2016 elections, Farley switched her partisan affiliation to independent and began caucusing with the Democrats. District 8 was one of 14 Nevada Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 8 by 1.0 points. Mitt Romney (R) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 0.6 points. Potential recall In August 2017, a recall effort was launched against Farley and two Democratic state senators due to their support for a bill that increased taxes to fund the state's education system and a bill that removed the prevailing wage exemption for school construction and the Nevada System of Higher Education in 2017. Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson (R) announced his support for the recall. The recall of Farley did not make the ballot.

District 9

Who won this race?

Democrat Melanie Scheible defeated Republican Tiffany Jones.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Republican Party

Who were the candidates running?

Melanie Scheible Tiffany Jones

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won just over 55 percent of the vote in 2014 and defeated an incumbent of the opposite party. Incumbent Becky Harris (R) was first elected in 2014. She received 55.2 percent of the vote and defeated Democratic incumbent Justin Jones by 10.4 points. District 9 was one of 14 Nevada Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 9 by 8.7 points. Barack Obama (D) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 9.6 points.

District 21

Who won this race?

Democrat James Ohrenschall defeated Republican Ron McGinnis.

What party controlled the seat heading into the election?

The Democratic Party

Who were the candidates running?

James Ohrenschall Ron McGinnis

What made this a battleground race?

This was a district where the incumbent won less than 55 percent of the vote in 2014 and resigned prior to the 2018 elections. Incumbent Mark Manendo (D) was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014, where he received 53.5 percent of the vote and defeated his Republican challenger by 7.0 points. Manendo resigned his seat in July 2017 after an independent investigation found that he violated the legislature’s anti-harassment policy. No replacement was named ahead of the 2018 elections. District 21 was one of 14 Nevada Senate districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 21 by 22.7 points. Barack Obama (D) won the district in the 2012 presidential election by 26.3 points.

Nevada political history

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party control

2018

In the 2018 elections, Democrats increased their majority in the Nevada State Senate from 10-8 to 13-8.

Nevada State Senate
Party		As of November 6, 2018	After November 7, 2018
	Democratic Party	10	13
	Republican Party	8	8
	Independent	1	0
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		21	21

2016

In the 2016 elections, Democrats gained one seat and took control of the Nevada State Senate.

Nevada State Senate
Party		As of November 7, 2016	After November 8, 2016
	Democratic Party	10	11
	Republican Party	11	10
Total		21	21

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Republicans in Nevada held a state government trifecta for two years between 1992 and 2017. During the same period of time, Democrats held a trifecta for one year.

Nevada Party Control: 1992-2025
Five years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R
Senate	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Impact of term limits

See also: Impact of term limits on state senate elections in 2018 and Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

The Nevada State Senate has been a term-limited state Senate since Nevada voters approved Question 9A in 1996. Question 9A was a second vote on a term limits amendment first approved in 1994. Alone among the states with ballot initiatives, Nevada voters must approve a proposed constitutional amendment twice before it goes into the Nevada Constitution. The 1994 and 1996 votes cumulatively led to Paragraph 2 of Section 4 of Article 4 of the Nevada Constitution, which says, "No person may be elected or appointed as a Senator who has served in that Office, or at the expiration of his current term if he is so serving will have served, 12 years or more, from any district of this State."

A total of 11 out of 21 seats in the Nevada State Senate were up for election in 2018. In the 2018 elections, no state senators were ineligible to run because of term limits.

Of the 87 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2018, 24 of them—12 senate chambers and 12 house chambers—included incumbents who were unable to run for re-election due to term limits. In the 24 chambers affected by term limits in 2018, 1,463 seats were up for election. The Nevada Senate, Arkansas House, and Arkansas Senate are impacted by term limits, but no incumbents were term-limited in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

A total of 271 state legislators—96 state senators and 175 state representatives—were ineligible to run in the 2018 elections because of term limits. This represented 4 percent of the 6,066 total seats up for election in November 2018. Republicans had twice as many state legislators term-limited in 2018 than Democrats. A total of 86 Democrats were term-limited, while 177 Republicans were term-limited.

Nevada ballot measures

See also: Nevada 2018 ballot measures

Nevada's process for legislatively referred constitutional amendments was designed to allow legislative elections to determine the fate of proposed constitutional amendments approved in the previous session. The 2017 Democrat-controlled Nevada State Legislature approved seven proposed constitutional amendments, including several that passed along partisan lines. These amendments needed approval again in 2019 to reach the 2020 ballot. This means that the fates of multiple legislatively referred constitutional amendments—including a minimum wage increase, an amendment making emergency medical care a right, an amendment recognizing marriage regardless of gender, and an amendment concerning property taxes—were determined at the 2018 state Assembly and state Senate elections. If Republicans regained control of at least one of the chambers of the Nevada Legislature, they could have either abandoned or rejected amendments approved by Democrats in 2017, thereby preventing them from going on the ballot. This scenario—but with parties switched—played out in the previous cycle; in 2015, Republicans approved two amendments that were abandoned by Democrats in 2017 following the shift to Democratic control of the legislature at the 2016 election. Democrats, however, retained control of both chambers of the legislature at the 2018 election.

The Nevada State Legislature can put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot for voter ratification through a majority vote in both the Nevada State Senate and the Nevada State Assembly in two legislative sessions. The Nevada Legislature holds regular sessions in odd-numbered years, and elections for legislators are held in even-numbered years. In even-numbered years, all members of the state Assembly are up for election—since assembly members have two-year terms—and half of the members of the state Senate are up for election—since state senators have staggered four-year terms. Thus, the ability of state lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment before voters depends on supporters of the constitutional amendment retaining control of both chambers of the legislature through an election cycle. This means that partisan shifts in the Nevada Legislature often result in the failure of proposed constitutional amendments that are partisan in nature. Moreover, the shift in priorities that comes along with a shift in partisan control can result in a proposed amendment being abandoned even if it had some bipartisan support. Since the minimum time it takes to amend the state constitution through a legislatively referred constitutional amendment is four years, getting a partisan policy added to the constitution is a significant victory.

2016 election and 2018 amendments

At the 2016 election, the majority control of both chambers of the Nevada Legislature shifted from Republicans to Democrats, moving Nevada from one of 23 Republican state government trifectas to one of 18 states under divided government. Because of this change in partisan control, two constitutional amendments that were approved in the 2015 legislative session did not receive a vote in the 2017 session and were not put on the 2018 ballot. One of these proposals was a right to hunt and fish amendment and the other was an amendment to require a two-thirds (66.67%) vote at the ballot to approve any measure that increased state revenue. One referral—a crime victims bill of rights known as Marsy's Law—was approved by both the 2015 Legislature and by the 2017 Legislature, certifying it for the 2018 ballot.

The following legislatively referred constitutional amendments were approved by the 2015 Legislature and needed approval again in 2017:

Amendment	2015 vote		2015 control	2017 vote		2017 control	Status
Click link for details	Senate	Assembly	Republican	Senate	Assembly	Democrat
Two-Thirds Vote for Revenue Increases	11-9	23-17		No vote	No vote		Abandoned
Right to Hunt and Fish	16-5	32-10		No vote	No vote		Abandoned
Crime Victims Rights	15-6	41-1		21-0	41-0		Approved

2018 election and 2020 amendments

The scenario that happened in 2015, 2016, and 2017 could have played out again in 2017, 2018, and 2019 but with parties switched. However, Democrats retained control of the legislature at the 2018 election. Out of the seven legislatively referred constitutional amendments approved by the state Legislature in 2017, three were approved along party lines. Another, the amendment to require marriage to be recognized regardless of gender, was initially approved along party lines, but it received more bipartisan support following changes designed to give religious organizations and clergy the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage. All of these amendments require majority approval in both chambers of the Legislature in 2019 to reach the 2020 ballot.

To read about the competitiveness of state Senate elections in 2018, click here, and to read about the competitiveness of state Assembly elections in 2018, click here.

Below are the amendments that were approved in their first session by the legislature in 2017. Amendments passed along partisan lines are listed at the top of the chart:

Amendment	2017 vote		2017 control	2019 vote		2019 control	Status
Click link for details	Senate	Assembly	Democrat	Senate	Assembly	Democrat
Minimum Wage Increase	12-9	27-15		---	---		Not on the ballot
Right to Emergency Medical Care	12-9	26-14		---	---		Not on the ballot
Taxes; Depreciation, and Rebates	13-8	27-15		---	---		Not on the ballot
Marriage Regardless of Gender	19-2	Unknown		---	37-2		Approved
Right to Voting Procedures	21-0	38-3		21-0	---
Status of Board of Regents	18-2	38-4		20-0	36-5		Defeated
Board of Pardons Commissioners	20-0	33-8		21-0	---		Approved

Redistricting in Nevada

See also: Redistricting in Nevada

Because state senators in Nevada serve four-year terms, winning candidates in the 2018 election served through 2022 and played a role in Nevada's redistricting process—the drawing of boundary lines for congressional and state legislative districts. In Nevada, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. Prior to 2020-2022, redistricting last took place in Nevada from 2010-2011.

State process

In Nevada, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. The lines are subject to veto by the governor.

Under a state law enacted in 2019, state prison inmates are counted as residents of their home addresses for redistricting purposes.

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

State legislative wave elections
Year	President	Party	Election type	State legislative seats change	Elections analyzed
1932	Hoover	R	Presidential	-1,022	7,365
1922	Harding	R	First midterm	-907	6,907
1966	Johnson	D	First midterm	-782	7,561
1938	Roosevelt	D	Second midterm	-769	7,179
1958	Eisenhower	R	Second midterm	-702	7,627
2010	Obama	D	First midterm	-702	7,306
1974	Ford	R	Second midterm	-695	7,481
1920	Wilson	D	Presidential	-654	6,835
1930	Hoover	R	Presidential	-640	7,361
1954	Eisenhower	R	First midterm	-494	7,513

Candidate and office information

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Nevada

See statutes: Title 24, Chapter 293 of the Nevada Revised Statutes

A candidate in Nevada may access the ballot in one of three ways: as a major party candidate, as a minor party candidate, or as an independent candidate. Write-in candidates are not permitted in this state. Voters can only cast a vote for candidates whose names appear on the ballot.

Major party candidates

A major party candidate must have been affiliated with his or her party by December 31 of the year preceding the election. If a candidate changes his or her affiliation after that date, he or she can no longer run as a major party candidate.

Major party candidates are nominated via primary election. There are two ways in which a major party candidate may be placed on the primary election ballot:

• by filing a declaration of candidacy and paying the filing fee during the candidate filing period, which begins on the first Monday in March and ends on the second Friday in March following that Monday; the declaration must include the following:
  • the residential address of the candidate, which must be in the appropriate district of the state corresponding to the office being sought
  • a copy of a government-issued photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or document issued by a government entity in order to prove the residence address listed on the declaration
  • the candidate's Social Security number, license number, or state identification number
• by having 10 or more registered voters file a certificate of candidacy on behalf of any registered voter they wish to nominate as a candidate for their major party; this must be done no earlier than the first Monday in February and no later than the first Monday in March preceding the primary election (if nominated in this way, the candidate must file an acceptance of candidacy with the required filing fee during the candidate filing period)

The filing fees mentioned above vary according to the office being sought and can be paid by cash, cashier's check, or certified check. Personal checks, campaign checks, and credit cards are not acceptable forms of payment. The filing fees are detailed in the table below.

Filing fees
Office sought	Filing fee
United States Senator	$500
United States Representative and Governor of Nevada	$300
Nevada state executive offices other than governor	$200
Nevada Senator and Nevada Assemblyman	$100

If the candidate is seeking office in the United States House of Representatives or Nevada State Legislature in a district within a single county, he or she must file with the county clerk of that county. Candidates for all other offices must file with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Minor party candidates

Minor parties must file a list of candidates with the Nevada Secretary of State before any minor party candidates can file individually. This list must be signed in the presence of a notary public by the party officer named to do so on the minor party's certificate of existence. The list must be filed during the candidate filing period, which starts on the first Monday in March and ends on the second Friday in March following that Monday.

Once the candidate list has been submitted to the Nevada Secretary of State, a minor party candidate can file his or her declaration of candidacy and pay the required filing fee (detailed above). These must be filed during the candidate filing period. If the candidate is seeking office in the United States House of Representatives or Nevada State Legislature in a district within a single county, he or she must file with the county clerk of that county. Candidates for all other offices must file with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Minor party candidates are not permitted to participate in the primary election. Minor parties nominate their candidates to be placed on the general election ballot and may field only one candidate for each office appearing on the ballot.

Independent candidates

Independent candidates may run only in the general election. Independent candidates must petition to be placed on the ballot. This may be done in one of two ways:

• by submitting a petition containing signatures of registered voters equal in number to at least 1 percent of the total votes cast at the last general election for the same office the candidate seeks
• by submitting a petition containing 250 signatures of registered voters if the candidate seeks statewide office, or containing 100 registered voters' signatures if the candidate seeks any other office

Before circulating a petition, a candidate must file a copy of the petition with the Nevada Secretary of State after January 2 of the year of the election. The petition may be circulated as soon as the copy has been filed. The completed petition must then be filed with the counties where the petition was circulated in order to be verified. In order to have the petitions verified in time to file them during the candidate filing period, which starts on the first Monday in March and ends on the third Friday in June preceding the general election, the petitions must be submitted to the counties 10 business days before the last day of the candidate filing period. A verified petition may then be filed with the declaration of candidacy and filing fee with the Nevada Secretary of State unless the candidate is seeking office in a district existing entirely within one county. Such candidates file all documents and fees with the county clerk of the appropriate county.

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the Nevada State Senate, a candidate must be:

• A U.S. citizen at the time of filing
• 21 years old at the filing deadline time
• A one-year resident of Nevada preceding the election
• A resident for 30 days of the senate district from which elected at the filing deadline time
• A qualified voter. A qualified voter is someone who is:

* A U.S. citizen

* A resident of Nevada for at least 6 months prior to the next election, and 30 days in the district or county

* At least 18 years old by the next election

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024
Salary	Per diem
$130/legislative day	The exact amount members receive for per diem is unknown.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Nevada legislators assume office on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November (the day after election day).

Competitiveness

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

Results from 2016

Click here to read the full study »

Historical context

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in Nevada. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Nevada with 47.9 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 45.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1868 and 2016, Nevada voted Republican 51 percent of the time and Democratic 46 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Nevada voted Democratic three times and Republican the other two.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in Nevada. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 13 out of 21 state Senate districts in Nevada with an average margin of victory of 27.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 14 out of 21 state Senate districts in Nevada with an average margin of victory of 21.3 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won eight out of 21 state Senate districts in Nevada with an average margin of victory of 14.4 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won seven out of 21 state Senate districts in Nevada with an average margin of victory of 21 points. Trump won one district controlled by a Democrat heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state Senate District
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	62.67%	35.79%	D+26.9	58.52%	35.39%	D+23.1	D
2	79.84%	18.34%	D+61.5	76.06%	18.84%	D+57.2	D
3	64.40%	33.50%	D+30.9	60.40%	33.62%	D+26.8	D
4	80.10%	18.45%	D+61.7	74.62%	20.71%	D+53.9	D
5	52.10%	45.97%	D+6.1	47.78%	45.70%	D+2.1	D
6	51.76%	46.62%	D+5.1	49.60%	44.80%	D+4.8	D
7	62.46%	35.42%	D+27	57.11%	36.39%	D+20.7	D
8	48.90%	49.54%	R+0.6	47.63%	46.64%	D+1	R
9	53.96%	44.37%	D+9.6	51.49%	42.84%	D+8.7	R
10	67.96%	29.82%	D+38.1	63.00%	31.27%	D+31.7	D
11	61.50%	36.71%	D+24.8	56.94%	37.48%	D+19.5	D
12	41.32%	57.02%	R+15.7	36.96%	57.40%	R+20.4	R
13	63.81%	33.66%	D+30.2	57.27%	34.07%	D+23.2	D
14	41.95%	55.52%	R+13.6	35.17%	56.51%	R+21.3	D
15	50.91%	47.00%	D+3.9	47.09%	44.34%	D+2.8	R
16	42.95%	54.91%	R+12	40.14%	51.32%	R+11.2	R
17	34.20%	63.50%	R+29.3	26.96%	65.80%	R+38.8	R
18	46.72%	51.52%	R+4.8	41.63%	51.92%	R+10.3	R
19	29.75%	67.23%	R+37.5	24.72%	68.06%	R+43.3	R
20	48.36%	49.96%	R+1.6	46.14%	47.99%	R+1.8	R
21	62.27%	35.95%	D+26.3	58.51%	35.86%	D+22.7	D
Total	52.36%	45.68%	D+6.7	47.92%	45.50%	D+2.4	-
Source: Daily Kos

See also

• Nevada State Senate
• Nevada State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2018
• Nevada state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
• Nevada state legislative Republican primaries, 2018

External links

Suggest a link

• Nevada State Legislature

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Nevada State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Nicole Cannizzaro

Senators

District 1

Michelee Crawford (D)

District 2

Edgar Flores (D)

District 3

Rochelle Nguyen (D)

District 4

Dina Neal (D)

District 5

Carrie Buck (R)

District 6

Nicole Cannizzaro (D)

District 7

Roberta Lange (D)

District 8

Marilyn Loop (D)

District 9

Melanie Scheible (D)

District 10

Fabian Donate (D)

District 11

Lori Rogich (R)

District 12

Julie Pazina (D)

District 13

Skip Daly (D)

District 14

Ira Hansen (R)

District 15

Angie Taylor (D)

District 16

Lisa Krasner (R)

District 17

Robin Titus (R)

District 18

John Steinbeck (R)

District 19

John Ellison (R)

District 20

Jeff Stone (R)

District 21

James Ohrenschall (D)

Democratic Party (13)

Republican Party (8)