Roberta Lange now leads Ellen Spiegel in Senate contest
Initial election results have flipped in one state Senate and three Assembly races, as mail ballots continue to be counted by county elections officials.
In the Senate District 7 Democratic primary, an overnight update in the results saw a nearly 200-vote flip Tuesday morning, with Assemblywoman Ellen Spiegel now trailing the Democratic Senate caucus-backed candidate Roberta Lange by 93 votes out of more than 6,400 cast. Lange now holds 38 percent of the vote to Spiegel’s 37 percent.
Assemblyman Richard Carrillo is running third with 25 percent of the vote.
With no Republican in the race, the winner of the Democratic primary for the Las Vegas seat will succeed Sen. David Parks, who is leaving office because of term limits. Spiegel is a five-term assemblywoman. Lange, a former teacher, has served three terms as chair of the state Democratic Party. Carrillo is also a five-term officeholder.
All results remain unofficial until the final recanvassing and certification. Tuesday was the deadline for mail ballots to be received in various elections offices around Nevada.
In addition, three Assembly races saw changes.
■ With all precincts reporting in the Democratic primary for the Assembly District 2 seat in Summerlin, Radhika Kunnel leads Jennie Sherwood by 177 votes out of 3,300 cast between them. Kunnel held 35.5 percent of the vote to Sherwood’s 31.9 percent, with two other candidates splitting the remainder.
Sherwood had led Kunnel in initial returns. The winner will face the projected victor of the Republican primary, Heidi Kasama, in a race to succeed departing Assemblyman John Hambrick.
■ Venicia Considine leads Lisa Ortega by 99 votes in the the Assembly District 18 Democratic primary out of 3,100 votes cast between them. Ortega had led by roughly the same margin in initial returns.
Considine, who ran with backing of the Assembly Democratic caucus, held 39.8 percent of the vote to Ortega’s 37.3 percent. Two other candidates split the remaining vote. The winner will face Republican Heather Florian in November in the race to succeed Carrillo in the east Las Vegas seat.
■ In the Democratic primary that will determine who succeeds Spiegel in Las Vegas’ Assembly District 20, David Orentlicher leads second-place candidate Emily Smith by more than 300 votes out of nearly 3,800 between them.
Orentlicher, who ran with Democratic Assembly caucus backing, had 45.9 percent to Smith’s 39 percent, with two other candidates splitting the remainder. Smith held a 3 percentage point lead in initial returns.
And in the race for Clark County School District board of trustees:
■ Tameka Henry has surged into first place in the extremely tight District C after placing third in preliminary results, though she only holds her lead over Evelyn Garcia Morales by 126 votes. Henry has 20.83 percent to Garcia Morales’ 20.31 percent.
Barbara Dreyer, who initially placed first, is now in third, with 20.09 percent.
In District E, teacher Alexis Salt moved up from third to second place last week, while former second-place finisher Christopher Craig was bumped down to fifth by Tuesday. Salt currently has 17.47 percent.
Incumbent Lola Brooks still leads in the District E contest with 21.56 percent of the vote.
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Aleksandra Appleton contributed to this story.