2018 Nevada Senate election

The 2018 Nevada Senate election took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Nevada voters elected state senators in 11 of the state senate's 21 districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Nevada State Senate.

2018 Nevada Senate election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
11 of the 21 seats in the Nevada State Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Aaron D. Ford (retired) Michael Roberson (retired) Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 11th 20th Last election 11 10 Seats before 11+1[a] 9 Seats won 13 8 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 255,036 227,371 Percentage 51.30% 45.73% Swing 0.02% 4.56%
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
Leader of the Senate before election Aaron D. Ford Democratic Elected Leader of the Senate Kelvin Atkinson Democratic

A primary election on June 12, 2018, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained from the State of Nevada's Secretary of State website.^[2]

Due to resignations and appointments, on election day 2018, there were 10 Democrats, one independent (caucusing with Democrats), eight Republicans, and two vacancies in the Nevada Senate. To claim control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net three Senate seats.

Background

Following the 2016 state senate elections, Democrats flipped control of the Senate away from the Republicans with a slim majority of 11 Democrats to 10 Republicans. On November 14, 2016, Sen. Patricia Farley switched from Republican to non-partisan and began caucusing with the Democrats, increasing their majority to 12 seats. Democrat Ruben Kihuen of District 10 resigned to become a member of the U.S. House, and he was replaced by Democrat Yvanna Cancela on December 6, 2016. Democrat Mark Manendo of District 21 resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment on July 19, 2017, and Republican Becky Harris of District 9 resigned in January 2018 to chair the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Results

Summary of results by state senate district

• For districts not displayed, there would be no election until 2020.

State senate district	Incumbent	Party		Elected senator	Party
2nd	Mo Denis		Democratic	Mo Denis		Democratic
8th	Patricia Farley		Independent	Marilyn Dondero Loop		Democratic
9th	Vacant[b]		Republican	Melanie Scheible		Democratic
10th	Yvanna Cancela		Democratic	Yvanna Cancela		Democratic
12th	Joe Hardy		Republican	Joe Hardy		Republican
13th	Julia Ratti		Democratic	Julia Ratti		Democratic
14th	Don Gustavson		Republican	Ira Hansen		Republican
16th	Ben Kieckhefer		Republican	Ben Kieckhefer		Republican
17th	James Settelmeyer		Republican	James Settelmeyer		Republican
20th	Michael Roberson		Republican	Keith Pickard		Republican
21st	Vacant[c]		Democratic	James Ohrenschall		Democratic

Source:^[3]

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. State Senate district 20, 0.04% (tipping point for supermajority)
2. State Senate district 8, 3.26%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[4]	Likely D	October 8, 2018

Detailed results by state senate district

District 2 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 • District 16 • District 17 • District 20 • District 21

• Results are only shown for races that were contested. In uncontested races (i.e., only one person ran); the Nevada Secretary of State's website does not provide results.

Sources:^[3][5]

District 2

• Both primaries were uncontested.

2nd Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mo Denis (incumbent)	13,717	79.5
	Republican	Cal Border	3,537	20.5
Total votes			17,254	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 8

8th Senate District Democratic primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marilyn Dondero Loop	4,590	65.68
	Democratic	Stephanie Alvarado	2,398	34.32
Total votes			6,988	100.0

8th Senate District Republican primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Valerie Weber	2,533	40.28
	Republican	Dan Rodimer	2,391	38.02
	Republican	Elizabeth Helgelien	1,365	21.70
Total votes			6,289	100.0

8th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marilyn Dondero Loop	25,777	51.63
	Republican	Valerie Weber	24,154	48.37
Total votes			49,931	100.0
	Democratic gain from Independent

District 9

• The Republican primary was uncontested.

9th Senate District Democratic primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melanie Scheible	4,424	69.39
	Democratic	Larry McCullough	901	14.13
	Democratic	Brandon West	601	9.43
	Democratic	Justin Allen Rebollo	450	7.06
Total votes			6,376	100.0

9th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melanie Scheible	30,900	55.62
	Republican	Tiffany Jones	24,660	44.38
Total votes			55,560	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 10

• The general election was uncontested.

10th Senate District Democratic primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvanna Cancela (incumbent)	2,854	60.40
	Democratic	Bryce Henderson	1,871	39.60
Total votes			4,725	100.0

10th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Yvanna Cancela (incumbent)	20,383	100.0
Total votes			20,383	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 12

• Both primaries were uncontested.

12th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Hardy (incumbent)	37,193	61.65
	Democratic	Craig Jordahl	23,133	38.35
Total votes			60,326	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

• The Democratic primary was uncontested and Republicans did not contest this election.

13th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julia Ratti (incumbent)	27,079	70.35
	Independent American	Charlene Young	11,415	29.65
Total votes			38,494	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 14

• Both primaries were uncontested.

14th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ira Hansen	32,913	60.53
	Democratic	Wendy Boszak	21,460	39.47
Total votes			57,373	100.0
	Republican hold

District 16

• The Democratic primary was uncontested.

16th Senate District Republican primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Kieckhefer (incumbent)	7,319	56.23
	Republican	Gary R. Schmidt	5,698	43.77
Total votes			13,017	100.0

16th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Kieckhefer (incumbent)	36,317	55.69
	Democratic	Tina Davis-Hersey	26,674	40.9
	Independent American	John Wagner	2,219	3.4
Total votes			65,210	100.0
	Republican hold

District 17

• Both primaries were uncontested.

17th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Settelmeyer (incumbent)	41,774	71.83
	Democratic	Curtis Cannon	16,384	28.17
Total votes			58,158	100.0
	Republican hold

District 20

20th Senate District Democratic primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julie Pazina	5,014	72.82
	Democratic	Paul Aizley	1,871	27.18
Total votes			6,885	100.0

20th Senate District Republican primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Keith Pickard	3,696	58.94
	Republican	Byron Brooks	2,575	41.06
Total votes			6,271	100.0

20th Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Keith Pickard	27,162	49.05
	Democratic	Julie Pazina	27,138	49.01
	Libertarian	Rick Bronstein	1,078	1.95
Total votes			55,378	100.0
	Republican hold

District 21

• The Republican primary was uncontested.

21st Senate District Democratic primary election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Ohrenschall	3,355	58.67
	Democratic	Christine Glazer	1,522	26.62
	Democratic	Jay Craddock	841	14.71
Total votes			5,718	100.0

21st Senate District general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Ohrenschall	22,391	62.0
	Republican	Ron McGinnis	13,721	38.0
Total votes			36,112	100.0
	Democratic hold

See also

• United States elections, 2018
• United States Senate election in Nevada, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections in Nevada, 2018
• Nevada elections, 2018
• Nevada gubernatorial election, 2018
• Nevada lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018
• Nevada Attorney General election, 2018
• Nevada Secretary of State election, 2018
• Nevada Treasurer election, 2018
• Nevada Controller election, 2018
• Nevada Supreme Court elections, 2018 Supreme Court Seats C, F, & G
• Nevada State Assembly election, 2018
• List of Nevada state legislatures

Notes

1. On November 14, 2016, Patricia Farley of Senate District 8 switched parties from Republican to non-partisan and announced she would caucus with the Democrats.^[1]
2. Republican Sen. Becky Harris resigned.
3. Democratic Sen. Mark Manendo resigned.