14 Saxe wins close race in Justice Court Dept. 13

A close race in Justice Court has ended with Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Saxe keeping a lead she’d maintained since early returns were announced, according to unofficial results posted on Wednesday.

Since election night, the race for Department 13 remained the closest among the judicial contests, but Saxe won with about 51 percent of the vote, while incumbent Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum received 49 percent, results show.

While votes were still being counted last week, Baucum told the Review-Journal that if Saxe wins the race, “I wish her nothing but the best.” Saxe did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday.

In Department 10, Deputy District Attorney Noreen DeMonte received 54.3 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Justice of the Peace Cybill Dotson, who had about 45.8 percent.

Dotson has served as judge for a little over a year, after the Clark County Commission appointed her in October 2021 to replace Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson.

In Department 6, Jessica Goodey, a personal injury attorney and pro tem justice of the peace, won with 59.2 percent of the vote, according to the unofficial results. William Gonzalez, a former Family Court judge, had received 40.8 percent. Goodey will fill a vacancy left by Justice of the Peace Rebecca Kern, who resigned in January.

In Department 7, personal injury attorney Amy Wilson has won with 56.1 percent of the vote, beating Chief Deputy Public Defender Max Berkley, who had about 44 percent. Wilson will be replacing Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron, who did not file for re-election this year.

Longtime Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure has secured another term, winning with 56.4 percent of the vote in the Department 9 race, according to unofficial results. Chief Deputy District Attorney Danielle “Pieper” Chio received 43.7 percent of the vote.

Bonaventure was first elected in 2004, ran unopposed in 2010 and won re-election in the 2016 primary.

District Court races

Of the two appointed incumbents who were on the ballot in District Court, one has lost to her challenger.

Attorney Anna Albertson won the Department 11 race with about 52 percent of the vote, beating appointed incumbent District Judge Ellie Roohani, who had received about 48 percent, according to the unofficial results.

Roohani, a former federal prosecutor and the first judge in Nevada to practice the Baha’i religion, was appointed by Gov. Steve Sisolak in December after District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez stepped down.

Meanwhile, appointed incumbent Maria Gall won the Department 9 race with 62.8 percent of the vote, marking the widest margin between candidates. Attorney James Dean Leavitt received 37.2 percent of the vote.

Sisolak appointed Gall in June to fill a vacant seat after former District Judge Cristina Silva was appointed to the U.S. District Court.

Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Schwartz has won the race for Department 17 with 36.7 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. There were three candidates on the ballot in the race, which did not have a primary because District Judge Michael Villani announced his retirement after the June election.

Attorney Adam Ganz had received about 34 percent of the vote, while Chief Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Moors had 29.3 percent.

Family Court Department A had a six-way race due to a special filing period following June’s primary, after Family Court Judge William Voy announced his retirement. Mari Parladé, the legal and strategic initiatives manager for the Clark County Family Services’ legal division, has won the race with 25 percent of the vote.

Court of Appeals

Unofficial results have also finalized the statewide race for Court of Appeals’ Department 1. Chief Deputy Public Defender Deborah Westbrook, who has been leading since results started coming in on Tuesday, won with 51.5 percent of the vote.

Current Family Court Judge Rhonda Forsberg received 24.9 percent of the vote.

The Court of Appeals is a panel of three judges who rule on about a third of cases that are submitted to the Nevada Supreme Court. Judge Jerome Tao, who presides over Department 1, did not file for re-election this year.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.