Nevada's candidate filing period closed Friday, with more than 950 non-judicial candidates announcing runs for office across the 10-day filing period.

The hundreds of candidates are running for everything from federal and statewide positions to local government offices. There are about 60 candidates running for Congress — about half of whom are running to succeed retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) in Congressional District 2 — and about 50 candidates running for statewide office.

Since the filing period began March 2, The Nevada Independent has been tracking the highlights and surprising candidacies. Scroll down to see what stood out and a spreadsheet of everyone who filed.

Attorney and retired boxer Joey Gilbert will not run for Congress — 3/13/26 at 7:16 a.m.

After an eye opening few days in Washington, D.C., meeting with leaders at the White House and spending time with the team at the NRCC, my daughter and I took time to step back, pray on it, and think carefully about the road ahead.

Being considered to serve Nevada as Congressman…

— Joey Gilbert (@joeygilbertinc) March 13, 2026

Lombardo selects prosecutor Peter Thunnel as district judge ahead of primary — 3/12/26 at 4:02 p.m.

One of the three candidates seeking election to Clark County District Court Department 26 was named to the bench Thursday by Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) to replace the incumbent judge who announced her retirement before the candidate filing period closed in early January.

Lombardo selected Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Peter Thunell for the seat after he was recommended to the governor as one of two finalists selected by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection.

Thunnel filed for the seat after Judge Gloria Sturman announced her retirement, which was effective Feb. 7. Sturman was elected to the district court in 2010. 

Two other candidates filed for the Dept. 26 seat: Daniel Hooge, chief counsel for the State Bar of Nevada, and Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Jessica Goodey, who is in midterm in her current seat. 

Thunnel, now considered the incumbent judge heading into the June 7 primary election, has been a prosecutor for 18 years. He is currently a chief deputy in the office, having handled more than 40 jury trials over his career.

The top two candidates in the primary will face each other again in the Nov. 3 general election.

— Howard Stutz

State board of education member to run for governor as nonpartisan — 3/12/26 at 2:30 p.m.

Danielle Ford, a first-term member of Nevada's state board of education and vocal public education advocate, filed to run for governor Thursday as a nonpartisan.

The former Clark County School District (CCSD) trustee — who had not publicly expressed interest in running for governor before — is one of more than 15 people to enter the race. 

In a Thursday interview with The Nevada Independent Thursday, Ford said running for governor has been on her mind for years. In her roles as a school district trustee and state education board member, she said she's become more aware of how powerful the governor has become.

As an example, she pointed to a 2011 law that allows the governor to appoint three voting members of the state education board (two of which are based on recommendations from legislative leadership) and four nonvoting members — giving the state's top executive indirect power over a board that sets policies ranging from assessments to opportunity gaps for the state's public K-12 education system.

She said she believes both parties are complicit in the governor's growing power.

"It has essentially monopolized and consolidated power right at the governor's office," she said. "I'm not running to be like, 'Oh, I want all the power.' Somebody needs to run who's going to not be persuaded by corporate interests and be willing to untie some of these knots that have happened to Nevada and the systems in it."

She added she not only wants more education funding, "but better" allocations of money, as well as stricter scrutiny of education contracts.

"These national vendors and co-ops that essentially come and bring whatever method that their state is using over here to Nevada, when we are so, so unique and we have the talent within to be able to educate kids," Ford said.

Ford was a CCSD trustee from 2019 to 2023, when she lost a re-election bid to former Assm. Irene Bustamante Adams (D-Las Vegas). In 2024, she narrowly ousted an incumbent state education board member. She also hosts a podcast about Nevada education policy and politics.

Asked about her policy proposals outside of education, Ford said they are still a work in progress, but that she has seen firsthand the realities of being a working class Nevadan. She is a single mom and last year, her son was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident.

"I do think I'm different than most of the state-level politicians and candidates because I have an actual grasp on the realities of the situation, and the changes that we need to make in the next legislative session to actually support the people in Nevada," she said.

Because Ford is running as a nonpartisan, Nevada law requires that she receive 250 signatures to land on the November ballot.

— Eric Neugeboren

Former South Lake Tahoe councilman becomes 20th contender for congressional seat — 3/12/26 at 12:29 p.m.

Attorney Bruce Grego (R), a former South Lake Tahoe city councilman, has filed to run in Nevada's open 2nd Congressional District. Grego is the 20th candidate and 12th Republican to file for the Republican-leaning seat. 

"We need to control better what has been generally referred to as the administrative state," he said in a Thursday interview with The Nevada Independent. "If I had my choice, I would require that all regulations promoted by any agency before they become effective, be approved by Congress and signed by the president before they could be implemented, because I don't think unelected officials should be controlling our lives."

Grego first served as a councilman for the California community in the 1980s and was elected back to the board in 2008. He has also been appointed to the Tahoe Transportation Commission and the Local Agency Formation Commission. He has not yet filed with the Federal Election Commission or reported any fundraising.

After living in South Lake Tahoe for half a century, Grego moved to Carson City in 2023 for a better climate and because he has relatives in Minden.  

"We wanted to be closer to family — as I'm getting younger, you know?" he said.

Asked how he would approach the job differently from retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), he painted himself as more willing to buck the party. 

"I think he's an honest person," Grego said. "But he was not very proactive in trying to work to change the system. I think he kind of accepted the things as they are and rolled with the punches."

Grego did speak approvingly of President Donald Trump.

"I appreciate his fresh look, his thinking outside the box, his experimenting to see what works and what doesn't work," Grego said. "In some respects, I feel I'm like him, in that he's been very proactive. I very much appreciated, whether you agree with him or not, that he's so accessible to the press." 

Grego said he wasn't yet familiar with all the other candidates in the race having just looked at a list Thursday morning. He sees himself as an "issue candidate" who will appeal directly to the voters.

"We need a congressperson that will be someone that is going to start trying to change things, instead of just going along and worrying about giving out flags that flow over a Capitol or to get tickets for a White House tour," he said. "I think we need people that want to make change."

— Mini Racker

Former lawmaker seeks to unseat regent who criticized transgender athletes — 3/10/26 at 1 p.m.

Former state Sen. Mo Denis (D-Las Vegas), a longtime public education advocate, is looking to unseat a Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) regent who faced calls for his resignation after making derogatory remarks against transgender athletes. 

Last week, Denis filed to run for the Board of Regents' District 5 seat which includes parts of East Las Vegas and North Las Vegas with a large Hispanic population. The office is currently represented by Regent Patrick Boylan, a former instructor at the College of Southern Nevada, who has served on the board since 2021. 

During his term, Boylan has come under fire for controversial comments he made claiming NSHE doesn't support white students as much as it does students of color and opposing transgender female student athletes, referring to them as "men masquerading as women."

Denis, the son of Cuban immigrants, said in a Monday phone interview that he disagreed with Boylan's comments and said it was a factor in his decision to run for this office. 

"I had a lot of folks in the community that came to me and said, 'We need someone who will pay attention to the community and help our constituents, help our students,'" he said. 

Boylan said during a Monday phone interview that he was proud to have brought attention to this issue even though he's not aware of any case of cisgender female athletes being injured by transgender female athletes in Nevada.  

"There should be no men playing against women in sports," he said. "I gotta keep the women safe."

Boylan said he's not against the transgender community in general and has no problem with what they do in their own private lives, but he believes it's "totally unnatural" to refer to a transgender individual by their preferred pronoun. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports, and the NCAA, which oversees collegiate-level athletics, both have policies that limit students to sports that align with their sex assigned at birth. 

Boylan also highlighted his support for a new veterinary school in UNR. If re-elected, he said he will continue advocating to increase safety across all Nevada colleges and universities. 

During his nearly two decades in the Legislature, Denis worked on legislation meant to improve K-12 and higher education in Nevada, including a bill that created a scholarship program to help students pay for community college. 

If elected to the Board of Regents, Denis said he hopes to work to improve access, affordability and student success in higher education. 

"The reason I'm so passionate about education is because that's our future," he said. "We need to make sure that our kids and our grandkids … are getting the best education they can." 

— Rocío Hernández

Settelmeyer jumps into open Northern Nevada congressional race — 3/6/2026 at 4:08 p.m.

James Settelmeyer, a longtime legislator and current director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, has announced his decision to run for retiring Rep. Mark Amodei's (R-NV) Congressional District 2 seat, representing Northern Nevada.

"As a lifelong Nevadan, rancher, and public servant, I have dedicated my career to standing up for the values and interests of our state," Settelmeyer said in a press release. "I have listened to the concerns of families, workers, and small business owners across northern Nevada, and I am committed to taking those concerns and making sure they are heard in Washington, D.C."

After announcing a run for re-election, Amodei decided to retire in February after 15 years in office representing the reliably Republican district. Democrats have never won the district, but several high-profile names have entered the Democratic primary including former Assm. Teresa Benitez Thompson (D-Reno) and wealthy investor Greg Kidd (D), who lost his bid for the seat in 2024 as an independent 

Born in Carson City, Settelmeyer is a fourth generation Nevadan with a long history of service in Northern Nevada. Elected to the Assembly in 2006 and to the state Senate in 2010, Settelmeyer served as the Senate Republican caucus leader from 2018 until term limits forced him out of office in 2022.

Gov. Joe Lombardo appointed him as director of the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in 2023 — prompting an unsuccessful lawsuit claiming it violated constitutional cooling off period rules. Settelmeyer is a rancher with a background in agricultural science. 

In his press release, Settelmeyer said he believed in "limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the power of local communities" and would fight to secure the border. He also said he would preserve the "freedoms that make Nevada and America exceptional." 

Settelmeyer did not respond to a request for an interview.

— Oona Milliken

Settelmeyer jumps into open congressional race — 3/6/2026 at 10:17 a.m.

NEW: @SettelmeyerNV WILL run for Congress in #NV02.

The former state senator was appointed head of the department of conservation by @JosephMLombardo in 2023.

Northern NV Republicans have recently sung his praises to me—especially about the fact that he's from the district.

— Mini Racker (@MiniRacker) March 6, 2026

Tarkanian files for AG, explains why he isn't running for Congress — 3/5/2026 at 1:41 p.m.

Douglas County Commissioner Danny Tarkanian (R) officially filed to run for attorney general on Thursday, throwing cold water on speculation that he would drop his bid and run to replace Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) in the safely Republican 2nd Congressional District. He previously challenged Amodei in the 2022 congressional primary. 

"I have no interest in running in CD2," he told The Nevada Independent in a brief phone interview prior to filing. 

Though his campaign had sent out a text message poll comparing him to other potential and declared candidates for the seat earlier this week, he suggested he was too old to start a career in Washington but could make a positive impact on the issues that matter most to him in the attorney general's office. 

"At my age, I'm 64, if I get in Congress, and I'm at the end of the totem pole, I got a good eight years left in me," he said. "I don't even think I can get much done, or do anything. So even though I have a better chance of winning CD2 than I do the AG's office, I think I can do some really good things."

Tarkanian predicted he will win the GOP primary for attorney general, barring a huge influx of cash or an endorsement from President Donald Trump for his opponent, attorney Adriana Guzmán Fralick (R), who was endorsed by Gov. Joe Lombardo. 

The more difficult part, he said, will be winning a general election in what's shaping up to be a good year for Democrats. 

— Mini Racker

Matthews will stay in controller race, not run for Amodei's seat — 3/4/2026 at 11:46 a.m.

New: @AndyMatthewsNV is NOT running in #NV02.

"After a lot of prayer, reflection, consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to remain in my race for a second term as Nevada Controller," he wrote in a release.

— Mini Racker (@MiniRacker) March 4, 2026

Reno business leader enters GOP primary for secretary of state — 3/4/2026 at 10:18 a.m.

Shirley Folkins-Roberts, the co-founder of a Reno nonprofit to help children facing cancer, filed Wednesday to run in the Republican primary for secretary of state.

Folkins-Roberts, who is also an attorney and has spent more than a decade working at a commercial real estate company, joins a field of candidates seeking to unseat Democrat Cisco Aguilar. Two other Republican candidates have filed to run as of Wednesday, including perennial candidate Sharron Angle.

Folkins-Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

A press release announcing her candidacy said Folkins-Roberts "supports keeping voter rolls accurate, implementing voter ID responsibly, ensuring election results are delivered clearly and on time, and streamlining business services so companies can grow and create jobs in Nevada."

Aguilar has opposed voter ID, which voters overwhelmingly approved in the form of a 2024 ballot question (and must do so again this year for it to take effect). During last year's legislative session, when Democrats introduced a bill to implement voter ID, Aguilar said in a statement that "voters made their voices heard at the ballot box supporting similar changes." Gov. Joe Lombardo ultimately vetoed that bill because it still allowed signatures to be the sole source of identity verification for mail ballots.

The secretary of state's office has also been the subject of multiple failed GOP-led lawsuits alleging the state is insufficiently maintaining its voter rolls — an allegation that Aguilar has refuted. In February, the state removed 177,000 voters as part of its regular voter roll maintenance.

Nevada has also long faced scrutiny for the time it takes to count votes. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted as long as they are received up to four days after Election Day. Aguilar has not sought to change these rules, but he supported efforts to expedite ballot counting by establishing a grant program to funnel resources to local election offices and increase ballot drop boxes in the days leading up to Election Day. Lombardo also vetoed these proposals.

Because Democrats control the Legislature, it is unlikely that Republican-led election reforms will gather enough support to become law.

— Eric Neugeboren

Flippo swaps races, will now seek Amodei's seat — 3/4/2026 at 9:06 a.m.

Small-business owner and retired Lt. Col. David Flippo (R) announced Wednesday morning that he is swapping races to run for the 2nd Congressional District currently represented by retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV). He was previously running in the 4th Congressional District, a Democratic-leaning battleground currently represented by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV).

"After a series of conversations with MAGA leaders, both in Washington and in Nevada, David has decided to enter the race in the Second Congressional District to replace the GREAT Congressman, Mark Amodei," his campaign wrote in a release. 

Flippo's team wrote that he is launching his campaign with $1 million cash on hand, almost three times as much as what his campaign committee reported at the end of December. 

In a campaign launch video, Flippo stressed how he will take on illegal immigration and inflation. 

"We need to give President Trump the firepower that he needs to fight the liberals in Washington," he said in the video. 

His decision comes one day after 2024 Senate nominee Sam Brown (R), the presumptive front-runner to replace Amodei, declined to run. A slew of ambitious Republicans are now expected to get in the race for the seat, where the GOP is heavily favored.

Turning Point Action, founded by the late Charlie Kirk, quickly backed Flippo, writing on social media, "He will be a HUGE upgrade from Mark Amodei."

— Mini Racker

Where we stand on the first day of campaign filing — 2:00 a.m.

Official candidate filing has opened, but nearly 200 people have already announced intentions to run for a seat in local government, the Legislature, statewide government or Congress, according to a Nevada Independent tally.

Congressional District 2, represented by the soon-to-be-retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), has the most announced candidates at 12, followed by seven candidates running for the open Clark County Commission District F and four candidates in the Assembly District 39 race.

This lay of the land could change depending on who files in the next 10 days. 

There's plenty of time for last-minute switcheroos and tomfoolery. Keep following this blog for the latest need-to-know details.

— Tabitha Mueller