By Kristen Hackbarth & Bob Conrad | Photos by Eric Marks

Editor’s note: Election results are not yet certified and may change. This story is developing and may be updated.

The 2024 election is one for the history books. Nevada turned red for former President and convicted felon Donald Trump, marking a historic victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Despite Harris’s prediction Thursday that “we will win,” that did not come to pass.

Trump’s win is also historic because he’ll be the first convicted felon, still facing additional charges and sentencing in his New York hush money trial, to be elected to the nation’s highest office.

State and national races saw many incumbents retaining their seats. Local races mostly saw expected results with some upsets. Ballot initiatives were also mixed—some passed, some did not.

State Legislature

Democratic newcomer Erica Roth will represent Assembly District 24 in the next legislative session. She leads challenger Terisia Kolesnick by nearly 30 percentage points. Incumbent Democrat Selena La Rue Hatch has the lead over Republican Diana Sande, with about 54% of the vote to Sande’s 48%.

Newcomer Democrat Heather Goulding maintains a healthy lead over Republican challenger Carmen Ortiz, with a cushion of nearly 10 percentage points. Republican incumbent Jill Dickman solidly leads challenger Stuart Mackie. Republican incumbents Alexis Hansen and PK O’Neill have solid leads over their challengers.

Democrat Angie Taylor leads Republican Mike Ginsberg by about 10 percentage points. The local wins were not enough to contribute to a Democratic supermajority in the Legislature, meaning Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) retains veto power, which he wielded heavily in the 2023 session of the Nevada Legislature.

Reno City Council

Reno’s City Council will not change much. Well-funded, appointed incumbent Kathleen Taylor is narrowly ahead—by less than one percentage point—of challenger Frank Perez, while appointed incumbent Miguel Martinez has a solid lead over challenger Denise Myer.

Incumbent Council member Devon Reese has a slim lead over challenger Brian Cassidy, and newcomer Brandi Anderson has a nearly 20-point lead over challenger Tom Heck for the city’s newest Ward 6.

Sparks City Council

Joe Rodriguez appears poised to best incumbent Kris Dahir, with a narrow lead, and incumbent Paul Anderson is ahead of challenger Brad Fitch.

School Board

Incumbent Diane Nicolet has a very slim lead over well-funded newcomer Perry Rosenstein. This race could change depending on remaining uncounted ballots.

Ballot Questions

WC1: Washoe County libraries face budget cuts after it appears the effort to renew an allocation of property tax funding for libraries has failed. Libraries Director Jeff Scott said at a recent library board meeting that if the measure failed, libraries would face a multitude of cuts, including layoffs, the elimination of the book and technology budgets, and the reduction of weekend and evening hours. The tax—which will still be collected but will remain in the county’s general fund—has funded the library system for 30 years, including new libraries.

Q1: Nevada’s System of Higher Education will remain intact as-is. Voters appear to have solidly rejected placing NSHE under the Legislature’s purview, the second time the initiative has been defeated. A recent court ruling affirmed NSHE as a stand-alone government body, securing its Board of Regents as the governing authority over the state’s higher-education campuses.

Q2: The Nevada Constitution will be amended to change descriptions of those with developmental disabilities. Q2 holds a 30-point lead affirming the change.

Q3: The attempt to introduce ranked-choice voting in Nevada appears to have failed. Voters rejected the change, which would have allowed nonpartisans to vote in primaries. The question passed in 2022, but it needed to pass again this year to be added to the state Constitution.

Q4: The state constitution will no longer include language indicating slavery and involuntary servitude can be forms of criminal punishment.

Q5: Diapers will no longer be taxed.

Q6: The right to an abortion is one step closer to being enshrined in the Nevada Constitution, with a nearly 30-point lead in votes. “We are officially one step closer to permanently protecting the right to abortion in the Nevada Constitution,” said Lindsey Harmon, president of Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom. “With these results, voters across party lines rejected misinformation and fear-mongering to send an unequivocal message: decisions about abortion should be made by women, their families, and their medical providers—not politicians.” The initiative will appear again in 2026 for final voter approval.

Q7: Photo identification requirements to vote are also a step closer to reality. Voters have overwhelmingly supported the initiative requiring IDs to vote. The measure will appear on the 2026 ballot for final passage.

Congress

As of the close of counting Tuesday night, incumbent Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen was trailing challenger Sam Brown by less than 1,800 votes statewide but leading in Washoe and Clark counties. This race has not been called.

Three of the four races for the House of Representatives aren’t as close. District 2’s Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Amodei easily bested his opponent Greg Kidd, taking nearly 57% of the vote to Kidd’s 35% as of Wednesday morning.

Democratic incumbent and District 1 Rep. Dina Titus leads her challenger Mark Robertson by more than five percentage points, and District 4’s Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford is more than nine percentage points ahead of his challenger, Republican John Lee.

Democratic incumbent Rep. Susie Lee is in a close race for the House seat in District 3 against Republican Drew Johnson, leading by just under 2,600 votes.

High voter turnout in Washoe County

Voters across Washoe County showed up to the polls on Tuesday for the 2024 election, with the Washoe County Administration Complex in Reno serving as a key voting location. The complex saw a steady stream of residents exercising their right to vote.

Officials said they added new resources to accommodate increased voter interest, including extra staff and a streamlined check-in system, both of which helped keep wait times short. The Washoe County Clerk’s Office also provided translators and support services to assist voters with the process.

By mid-afternoon on Election Day, the county saw about 66% turnout of eligible voters. Deputy Registrar of Voters Andrew McDonald reported that as of 2:30 p.m., more than 21,000 people had checked in to vote on Election Day, and just 30 minutes later, at the 3 p.m. report, Washoe County had topped 24,000 voters. This is in addition to the 90,000 in-person votes cast during early voting and the 110,000 mail-in ballots received through early voting.

“We have seen consistently long lines at vote centers, and it is clear that voter enthusiasm is very high in this election,” McDonald said. “I’m pleased to report that we have not had any altercations of note at vote centers, and people have largely been exercising their right to vote peacefully.”

Voters of all ages were seen lined up, with many arriving before the complex opened to avoid the midday rush. Washoe County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale described the turnout as a “steady stream.”

Citizens like Rachael Shoemake said they felt particularly motivated by national concerns. She said she was voting to support women’s rights and to express her support for a woman candidate.

“I’m here to honor our ancestors, who fought to make it a woman’s right to vote. I’d feel like it was a disservice to women in general to not vote,” she said.