Carson City incumbents Hold leads as uncounted ballots remain

Sheriff Kenny Furlong cruised toward re-election Tuesday night with a commanding 65 percent of the vote against challenger Don Gibson’s 35 percent, a margin that underscores the staying power of incumbency in Nevada’s capital city even as election officials warned that more than 2,100 ballots—plus any arriving by mail—could still shift the landscape, Nevada Appeal reported. The first wave of results trickled in after midnight, delayed because the Nevada Secretary of State prohibits releasing any tallies until the last voter in line has cast a ballot, a rule that kept Carson City and the rest of the state waiting while long lines persisted in Washoe and Clark counties well past the 7 p.m. poll closing.

By Wednesday morning, incumbents in Carson City were leading their races. Ward 3 Supervisor Curtis Horton led challenger Mayita Sanchez 10,519 votes to 8,909, a cushion of 1,610 ballots, while School District Trustee Lupe Ramirez held a 1,700-vote advantage over Adam Heinz with 10,463 votes. Those leads, however, are not yet safe. Carson City Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen told reporters Wednesday morning that roughly 2,100 ballots remained uncounted alongside any mail-in ballots still in transit, a pool large enough to matter in races decided by single-digit percentages but likely insufficient to erase the margins seen in the sheriff’s contest.

Local Races Reflect a Status Quo Mandate

In the Ward 3 supervisor race, Horton’s 1,610-vote lead over Sanchez represented a solid but not insurmountable advantage with thousands of ballots outstanding. Ramirez’s 1,700-vote edge over Heinz in the school board contest told a similar story—comfortable, yet contingent on the final count.

Carson City incumbents Hold leads as uncounted ballots remain — Photo: carsonnow.org

Garrit Pruyt, the current Carson City district attorney, captured 65 percent of the vote to become the next Department 3 judge, defeating Gene Munnings. Meanwhile, Kelly Brandon, the chief deputy district attorney, led challenger David Bailey by more than 2,000 votes in the race to become the city’s next DA, positioning the office for an internal promotion rather than an outside shake-up.

Carson City Assessor Kim Adams, Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen, Treasurer Andrew Rasor, and Ward 1 Supervisor Stacey Giomi all ran unopposed, as did school board members Richard Varner and Molly Walt and judges Jason Woodbury and Kristin Luis. Carson Now’s election guide confirmed these uncontested races alongside the contested ones, noting that all local Carson City offices are officially nonpartisan.

Statehouse Races Lean Republican in the Capital Region

In Assembly District 40—which includes Carson City, parts of Washoe County, and all of Storey County—Republican Julie Butler led Democrat Oscar Fuentes by 2,100 votes. Similarly, in State Senate District 16, covering the same geographic footprint, incumbent Republican Lisa Krasner held a 4,000-vote lead over Democrat Chrystal Roll, according to Nevada Appeal. Carson Now identified these as partisan races, contrasting with the nonpartisan local contests.

Carson City voters shared their thoughts on in person voting and expectation for candidates

These margins suggest that the broader districts encompassing the capital lean toward Republican representation in Carson City’s legislative delegation. The 4,000-vote lead in the State Senate District 16 race shows Krasner ahead even with ballots left to count.

Why the Wait: Nevada’s Election Administration Rules

The delay in releasing results was not a malfunction but a feature of Nevada election law. The Secretary of State’s office maintains a policy of withholding all results until every voter in line at closing time has voted, ensuring that no premature tallies influence late-arriving voters. This year, long lines in the state’s population centers—Washoe and Clark counties—pushed the first releases past midnight, meaning Carson City residents went to bed without knowing the outcome of their local races.

For those tracking the final outcome, the Carson City Clerk-Recorder’s Office elections page and the Nevada Secretary of State’s elections portal serve as the official sources for updated counts as the remaining 2,100 ballots and mail-in votes are processed.

What remains unknown is whether the outstanding ballots will narrow any of the closer margins—particularly in the Ward 3 supervisor and school board races—or simply confirm the trends seen in the first wave.