Unofficial results posted in Nevada primary election

Unofficial primary election results started popping up more than two and a half hours after polls closed Tuesday night in Nevada.

Voters in Washoe and Nye counties were the last to finish voting, which delayed the release of election results, the secretary of state’s office reported.

Former Attorney General Adam Laxalt won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate for the chance to challenge first-term incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in November. The Associated Press called the primary race for Laxalt shortly after 10 p.m.

Election results aren’t released anywhere in Nevada until the last voter in the last precinct casts a ballot. And voters who were in line by 7 p.m. were allowed to cast their ballots, no matter how long the wait.

At the close of polling, more than 58,000 voters had cast a ballot on Election Day in Clark County, putting the county’s overall turnout for the primary at 19 percent.

Voters were determining which candidates make it to the November elections in races including U.S. Senate, governor, city council and statehouse seats. Polls opened at 7 a.m.

“Keeping democracy alive,” said Nanci Sochol, just moments after voting at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave., early Tuesday. “The people need to be heard, and this is one of the only ways to be heard.”

Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said turnout was a little lighter than expected.

“A little bit lower than we thought it might be,” Gloria said. “We had 19,000 (in person) as of 12 noon.”

The figure does not include ballots being dropped off by voters.

Voter Johnna Foster said that if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain about the government.

“I don’t like the things that are happening in my country, so if I don’t come here and try to make changes, then what good am I as a citizen?” Foster said.

Foster said she cast her ballot with an eye on candidates’ immigration policies and inflation.

“We are printing money like paper,” Foster said. “Sooner or later that bill is going to come to us, and I have 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.”

Voter Harry Shenk said, “Everybody who is eligible to vote should vote.”

“I’m looking for folks who are not making a career out of political work,” Shenk said. “They are running for office because they feel they can do something better for the community.”

Voter Daniel Rego, meanwhile, considers voting a patriotic endeavor. He also noted that Tuesday was Flag Day.

“I always vote,” Rego said. “I think it is very important to vote. Even if they say your vote doesn’t matter, I think it is important you nonetheless go out and state who you support or what you support. … I just hope that people make an informed vote.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 hosted a canvass launch at its union headquarters on Commerce Street in Las Vegas. The union pushed out what it called “the largest political team in Nevada” with canvassers planning to knock on doors throughout the day to help drive turnout.

“We have hundreds of culinary worker members fired up, ready to go out, knock on doors and deliver votes,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the union. “We need to make a statement out there today. … We want to make sure that workers’ voices are heard.”

Pappageorge said candidates and canvassers were talking to voters about inflation and affordable housing.

“Out-of-state, corporate, price-gouging landlords — somebody’s got to do something about it,” he said, adding the price of housing “is making it tougher for people to own homes and (they are) jacking up rents.”

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus was at the morning event. She met with supporters and talked about the importance of voting.

“I know culinary is going to be knocking on doors,” she said. “Other unions will be, too. We will be going around to some of the voting places. We’ve got to get the turnout up.”

Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said more than 68,000 voters cast ballots during the early voting period that ended Friday. He said primary election results will be made official June 24.

Henderson sites

At around 4 p.m. Tuesday at Silverado Ranch Plaza, 9731 S. Eastern Ave., about two dozen people were in line outside of a temporary tent structure in the parking lot.

With the temperature in the low 90s, volunteers handed out water and snacks to voters. One of those voters, Nate Kimball of Las Vegas, said he was going to carry out his civic duty no matter how hot it was outside.

“I am a desert lizard, so if it was 120 degrees, I’d still be out here,” Kimball said. “For a lot of people this might be pretty rough, especially if this isn’t their hometown. But, I don’t mind the 90s, either.”

Kimball said he votes to ensure his voice is heard and to help keep the state moving in the right direction.

“My general approach is that our politicians keep an open mind and make fair and balanced judgments,” Kimball said. “I think if any politician, regardless of their party, is too heavily leaning in a certain direction, then it tends to pigeonhole certain items and policies. So, I think the most important thing for me is making sure that the politicians we elect are people who have shown a history of remaining fair and balanced, regardless of what the topic is.”

As 5 p.m. approached, there was a steady flow of people going in and out of Miller Middle School, but most finished the voting process there within 20 minutes.

Miller’s site leader said he expected the pace would pick up, as the site leader at Sun City Anthem Community Center, also in Henderson, alerted him that they were overly busy at their site and he was recommending residents cast their votes at the school.

Terri Salomonson, a voter at Miller, said she was surprised how short the line was but figured it would pick up as more people got off work.

“It went fine,” Salomonson said. “I was in and out in probably 15 minutes.”

Salomonson said she has a system she’s followed every time she voted and didn’t let current issues, such as inflation, sway her opinion from the norm.

“I just researched everybody and I just went by things that worked for me, that I thought that my morals worked with,” Salomonson said. “That’s what I always do. I always research everybody before I make a decision.”

At 7 p.m. there were about 135 people still in line at Galleria at Sunset mall, according to site observer Will Pregman. He estimated the line would take between 45 minutes to an hour to cycle through. Pregman expected the last of the day’s voters to be processed smoothly, as the site didn’t experience any issues Tuesday.

At the back of that line was Brandon Welbourne of Henderson, who arrived with his wife and two toddlers just before 7 p.m. Although the line was long, Wilbourne was determined to have his vote counted.

“Just trying to elect candidates that I support,” Welbourne said. “The big gun control push, I’m against a lot of regulation that’s being pushed. I don’t think it helps. I think there are a lot of candidates running that support legislation that doesn’t do anything but limits the freedom of Americans.”

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.