Brooks, Boylan leading in regent races

Partial election results released early Wednesday show Byron Brooks and Patrick Boylan leading the way in a pair of Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents races.

Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election were delayed into the early hours Wednesday because of long lines at the handful of voting centers that were open. Vote totals will change as additional mail-in ballots are counted until June 16, when final, unofficial results are due.

Unless one candidate collects a majority of votes in the primary, the top two finishers will face off in the general election on Nov. 3.

Regents, who serve six-year terms in the nonpartisan position, govern the state’s public higher education system, including UNLV and UNR, Nevada State College, four community colleges and Desert Research Institute. Those schools serve a total of more than 100,000 students.

For District 3, preliminary results show Brooks, a U.S. Army combat veteran and small-business owner, with 34.58 percent of the vote, Lachelle Fisher with 23.02 percent of the vote, Stephen Hayward Silberkraus with 21.89 percent and Swadeep Nigam at 20.51 percent.

Kevin Page, who has been on the board since 2009, didn’t seek re-election in the district that includes parts of Las Vegas and Henderson.

Brooks said Wednesday morning he didn’t have a comment since there’s “still a long way to go.”

“There’s a lot that can happen over the course of a few days,” he said, adding that the early results for his particular race are promising.

In District 5, preliminary results show Patrick Boylan, a semiretired educator who previously served on the Nevada State Board of Education, leading the way with 37.27 percent of the vote.

Kevin Child, a former Clark County school board trustee who lost his seat in 2018 after serving a single controversial term, was second with 31.9 percent of the vote, followed by Nick “Doc” Spirtos in third with 30.83 percent.

The district’s boundaries include parts of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

The seat is currently vacant following the death of Sam Lieberman. Lieberman was planning to seek re-election but died April 3 at age 58.

Boylan said Wednesday morning he’s happy with the early results but noted he doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the coming days. “I think it’s great so far, and I hope I do win, of course.”

But he said he hopes the best person for education is elected because it’s all about the students. “I think too many people forget that,” he added.

No results were posted for the District 2 race because only two candidates are contesting the seat and both will advance to the general election. The race pits Lois Tarkanian, a former Las Vegas City Council member, against Brett Whipple, an attorney and former regent.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.