A newly appointed judge appeared at risk of losing his seat in one of the two Clark County District Court races subject to Tuesday’s primary.
Three judges vied for an open seat in the other race.
In each race, if one of the candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, they will win outright. But if no one surpasses the 50 percent threshold, the two top-performing candidates will advance to a run-off election in November.
As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, with 170,440 votes counted, Jessica Goodey was leading in the Department 26 District Court race with 107,110 votes, 62.8 percent of the total reported, putting her well ahead of the appointed incumbent, Peter Thunell, who had 28.2 percent of the vote.
Adam Ganz was in the lead for the Department 13 District Court seat with 89,692 votes, 52.6 percent of the 170,471 reported.
Department 26
Gov. Joe Lombardo announced in March that he was appointing Thunell, a longtime prosecutor, to fill the Department 26 seat vacated by the February retirement of District Judge Gloria Sturman.
Nevada Bar Counsel Daniel Hooge and Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Jessica Goodey are running against him.
As of April, Thunell had raised $69,000 and Goodey had raised $169,000, according to reports filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office. Hooge reported raising only $5,250 — from just two donors — in a June report.
Thunell, who was sworn in March 30, has heard both criminal and civil cases since taking the bench, but his primary experience is in criminal law. He previously served as team chief of the special victims’ unit in the Clark County district attorney’s office, overseeing a wide range of cases.
Goodey, who has presided over civil cases in Justice Court, has said she focused on representing personal injury and medical malpractice plaintiffs in her private practice.
Hooge, who oversees the investigation and discipline of Nevada attorneys, previously served as Lincoln County district attorney.
Department 13
The Department 13 seat opened up when District Judge Mark Denton, who took the bench in 1998 and is the longest-serving current judge on the court, opted not to run for reelection.
Three candidates jumped in.
Adam Ganz, a District Court discovery and alternate dispute resolution commissioner, has stressed his civil law experience. He said that he tried about 50 to 75 cases in private practice.
In an April disclosure, he reported receiving nearly $317,000 in donations.
Denton has had a civil-only caseload.
Robert Kurth, another experienced lawyer, touted his wide-ranging experience, including criminal defense, family law and personal injury cases. As of April, he had raised $7,400.
Christopher Howell, who has worked for the Clark County public defender’s office for more than a decade, would be one of a small group of veteran judges if elected. He served in the U.S. Army, deploying twice in the Iraq War, he has said.
He had raised $29,000 as of April.
Kurth and Ganz have both tried and failed to win election to judicial positions previously.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
