Two incumbents take lead in District Court races

Incumbents were leading in two contested races after the release of Clark County’s preliminary election results.

There are two disputed departments for the civil and criminal side of District Court. An additional two candidates ran unopposed in the civil and criminal departments — incumbent judges Danielle Pieper and Jacob Reynolds.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial results in the contested races:

Department 14

As of Wednesday morning, incumbent District Judge Tina Talim was leading against opponent Alan Lefebvre.

Talim, a former longtime prosecutor with the district attorney’s office, was leading with about 64 percent of the votes, to Lefebvre’s 36 percent.

About 720,000 votes had been tallied in the Department 14 race by Wednesday morning, according to data from the Nevada secretary of state’s office.

Gov. Joe Lombardo appointed Talim, 46, to the bench in June after she was the only applicant for the vacant department seat. She is also the first Indian-American judge in Nevada. Although she has a background in criminal law, Talim has overseen a civil calendar since her appointment.

Talim is a former chief deputy district attorney who oversaw drug-trafficking cases and was in charge of the team that began charging people with murder in connection with fatal fentanyl overdoses.

Lefebvre, 71, is a longtime civil attorney who served as president of the State Bar of Nevada from 2013 to 2014, as well as a member of the state bar’s board of governors and the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he ceased actively practicing law in 2023 for family reasons.

Lefebvre has questioned Talim’s experience in civil law and told the Review-Journal that “identity politics” should stay out of judicial elections.

He said Talim “touts her credentials within the DA’s office, supporting their (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) endeavors.” Talim called his comments “deeply troubling.”

Talim currently oversees an entirely civil calendar. She said there was a “learning curve” to overseeing civil cases, but that she is qualified to continue sitting on the bench.

Lefebvre declined to comment Tuesday night. Talim did not immediatly respond to a request for comment.

Department 27

Incumbent District Judge Erika Mendoza was leading the Department 27 race with about 47.5 percent of the vote. Alexandra McLeod had received 25.4 percent, while Terry Coffing was at 27.1 percent.

About 718,000 votes had been tallied in the race as of Wednesday morning.

Mendoza, 42, was appointed to the bench by Lombardo in March. She is a former prosecutor with the Clark County district attorney’s office, and was head of a team prosecuting gun crimes at the time of her appointment. She currently oversees a mixed calendar with criminal and civil cases.

Both McLeod, 46, and Coffing, 59, have pointed to their experience as civil attorneys.

Coffing had a private practice focusing on civil cases and a few criminal matters, and is now the in-house attorney for the software company FaceTec. He has previously worked as a justice of the peace pro tem and has served as a tribal judge for the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe.

McLeod’s caseload has included premises liability and car accident personal-injury matters. She has previously worked as an arbitrator and as a short-term trial judge presiding over minor civil matters.

On Tuesday night, Coffing said he hasn’t seen enough numbers to say how the race will shake out.

“The results I’ve seen obviously are not good for me, but we’ll wait and see how the rest of it comes in and take it from there,” he said.

Mendoza and McLeod did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.