Jim Marchant attends a Republican election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Las Vegas.
John Locher/AP
Nevada is holding a crowded GOP primary for secretary of state, the state’s chief election official. Polls close at 9 p.m. local time and midnight ET.
The race and the stakes:
Nevada is holding primaries to replace outgoing GOP Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who is term-limited, and seven Republicans are seeking the nomination for the job. Cisco Aguilar is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Former state Assemblyman Jim Marchant has picked up former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Marchant has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was tainted by massive voter fraud and sought to overturn his own loss in a 2020 congressional race as Trump was seeking to overturn his loss in the presidential election in Nevada.
Marchant has also advocated for getting rid of ballot scanners in favor of hand-counting ballots, which experts have panned as inaccurate. “Your vote hasn’t counted for decades, you haven’t elected anybody,” he told a debate audience in February.
Other GOP candidates for the office include Assemblyman John Gerhardt, Sparks councilman Kristopher Dahir, former judge Richard Scotti, and real estate developer Jesse Haw.
Marchant is one of several Trump-endorsed election denier candidates seeking top election jobs in battleground states around the country.
