Key Primary Races

Ford has served as attorney general since 2019. He was elected to the state Senate in 2012, finishing his tenure as majority leader. Ford previously worked for a personal injury law firm in Las Vegas.

Hill is in her second term as Washoe County Commissioner. Before taking office in 2020, Hill worked in city planning and public policy for more than a decade in Sparks and Reno, and worked for a variety of nonprofits and universities.

Bayfield is a student at Western Governors University studying human resources. On her website, she says the “training informs her approach to state government.”

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Cannizzaro has represented Senate District 6 since 2016 and has served as Senate Democratic leader since 2019. A lifelong Nevadan born in Las Vegas, she worked for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for 11 years.

Conine was elected state treasurer in 2018. Prior to elected office, he co-founded a management consulting firm and was an executive at several gaming companies while attending UNLV's Boyd School of Law at night. He was admitted to the bar in 2015.

Guzmán Fralick is a lawyer who has served in myriad positions in local and state government, including as general counsel to former GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons. She most recently served as chair of the state’s Cannabis Compliance Board.

Tarkanian is an attorney, Douglas County Commissioner and the son of former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. He’s known for making multiple unsuccessful bids for office over the past two decades.

An attorney who previously interned for former Sen. Harry Reid, Dalia started his legal career advising tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Meta, on legal issues. He attended Southern Nevada schools and returned to the area in 2019. He currently represents Assembly District 29.

Jay Maharjan is a public high school teacher in East Las Vegas and formerly led Nevada’s region for the Obama administration’s Startup America Initiative.

Mathis-Coleman is the deputy treasurer of college savings — a division in the state treasurer’s office that oversees prepaid tuition, 529 plans and student loan programs — and is executive director of the Millennium Scholarship.

Carter is a businessman and venture capitalist who spent 25 years as a professional trader in Chicago.

Johnson was a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and a national director of Protect Internet Freedom. He is a contributing columnist at Newsmax Media, Inc. and The Washington Times.

Benitez-Thompson was most recently chief of staff to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and previously served as the Assembly Democratic majority leader in 2017 and 2019. She represented Assembly District 27 beginning in 2010, is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked in hospice and adoption and won the Miss Nevada pageant in 2002.

Kidd, an entrepreneur and former analyst at the Federal Reserve, is mounting a self-funded campaign. Kidd has founded multiple tech-focused startups and currently serves as CEO of Hard Yaka Ventures, which makes early round investments in technology companies. He ran for this seat in 2024 as a nonpartisan candidate.

Durham is a history, government and economics teacher who grew up in Utah and moved to Nevada in 2000. She previously served on the West Wendover City Council and is a mom, stepmom and grandma.

Enriquez has experience as the owner of a small coffee business and has studied international relations and public policy. He comes from an immigrant family and rebuilt his life after becoming homeless during the Great Recession.

Born on an Arkansas horse farm, Fonken was previously the Nevada Democratic Party’s executive director and has organized in rural communities. He has also been a legislative aide in the state Assembly.

Hebert has a physics Ph.D., trains AI, and is focused on getting money out of politics. He recently moved back to Nevada, where his father’s family is from.

Jolle is a small business owner with a background in archaeology and the trades who moved to Nevada 20 years ago.

Wadsworth is a student who decided to go into politics as a 26-year-old after observing the systemic problems in health care while previously on the pre-med track.

White describes himself as a working-class Nevadan born and raised in Carson City. He is passionate about universal health care after dealing with an autoimmune disorder.

Gorman has worked in broadcasting, software development, and education and moved to Reno in 2013. He is a former Bernie Sanders delegate who ran for this seat in 2022.

Kerns is a former homicide investigator and true crime author who lost a state Senate primary bid in 2024.

Flippo, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, is a financial adviser in Las Vegas. Previously, he worked for oil and gas company BP in Alaska.

A fourth-generation Nevadan, Settelmeyer was most recently director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under Gov. Joe Lombardo. He represented Senate District 16 from 2010 through 2022, Assembly District 39 from 2006 through 2010 and is the past chair of the Nevada State Conservation Commission and the Carson Valley Conservation District.

Doyle has lived in Nevada for half a century and worked in the casino industry for the bulk of that time, frequently as an executive.

Forbush is a retired Sparks police officer who received a settlement from the city after being disciplined over personal tweets amid the protests of summer 2020.

Lowe is a member of the Lander County School Board and a board director for the Nevada Association of School Boards. Her family has been in Nevada for generations.

Shepherd describes himself as a lifelong Nevadan who takes no special interest or foreign lobby money and is pro-Palestine. He ran for this seat as a Democrat in 2020.

Simon is a trauma surgeon and small businessman who lives in Gardnerville. He was previously a medical director at a San Diego trauma center, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2014, for governor in 2022 and for this seat in 2024.

Smith is a retired U.S. Navy captain who has worked as Nevada’s U.S. Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer and as a commercial airline pilot. He is now a senior tactical systems analyst for the Navy and has two daughters.

Tylawsky is a graduate student who founded The George Washington Institute, which aims to spread lessons from leaders in American history.

Watts is a former Eureka County sheriff who faced recall efforts in that role. His website states he is now executive director of a nonprofit that cares for law enforcement officers wounded on the job.

Billat is a mom, youth soccer coach and small business owner who was born and raised in Nevada and is campaigning on lands issues.

Grego is a lawyer and former South Lake Tahoe city councilman who moved to Carson City in 2023.

Olsen’s website describes him as a retired Army medic and retired Washoe County deputy sheriff who will run a grassroots campaign and not accept any donations.

Chapman is treasurer of the Nevada Independent American Party. She ran for this seat in 2024.

A former Republican, Lloyd is the founder of Bamboo Bridges, a nonprofit organization focused on combating human trafficking and domestic violence. She is endorsed by County Commissioners Justin Jones and Tick Segerblom.

Hovanessian, who fled war as a child, is an attorney for the Armenian National Committee of America. She is an advocate for Armenian issues and co-drafted Nevada’s Holocaust and Armenian Genocide Education Bill in 2021.

Kumar is a luxury goods management professional and a first-generation Indian-American. She is dedicated to addressing Clark County’s needs in food security, housing, and healthcare access through community-focused leadership and operations.

Educated as a mechanical engineer, Crawford said he wants to increase minimum wage and lower cost of living.

Lieberknecht, a real estate marketing consultant, has experience working for Zillow and Caesars Entertainment. He holds a masters degree in psychology from New York University.

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Yan is a former adjunct professor at UNLV working in commercial real estate development. Recently, she led the Chinatown Redevelopment Plan in Las Vegas.

A real estate agent and former president of Nevada Realtors, Kasama has served in the Assembly since 2020. She is seeking re-election and is endorsed by the Assembly Republican Caucus.

Mack has a background as a real estate agent though he now works in casino management and food and beverage management for the Wynn. Mack’s grandfather was Jerome Mack, a banker and investor who helped shape the Las Vegas Strip.

Harris is a former Republican state senator as well as a former chair for the Nevada Gaming Control Board — the first woman to hold the position. She currently teaches at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

A small business owner of an audio visual company since 2008, Baron lives in the Rural Estates area of Enterprise.

Hicks has served as district attorney since 2014. His father was also district attorney and a federal judge.

Duncan is the Sparks city attorney and former Nevada assemblymember. He is also an Air Force veteran.