Nevada Secretary of State election, 2022

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2018
Nevada Secretary of State
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 18, 2022
Primary: June 14, 2022
General: November 8, 2022

Pre-election incumbent(s):
Barbara Cegavske (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Nevada
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2022
Impact of term limits in 2022
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
Nevada
executive elections
Governor

Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Treasurer
Controller
State Board of Regents (5 seats)

Cisco Aguilar (D) defeated Jim Marchant (R), Ross Crane (L), and Janine Hansen (I) for Nevada secretary of state on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Barbara Cegavske (R) could not run for re-election due to term limits. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this race was “arguably the most important on the statewide ballot in November, outside of only the races for U.S. Senate and governor, as the victor will be able to exert control over how elections are conducted in Nevada for the next four years.”[1]

Aguilar worked as special legal counsel to the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education and the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education. Former governors Jim Gibbons (R) and Brian Sandoval (R) both appointed Aguilar to the Nevada Athletic Commission as a boxing and mixed martial arts regulator. Aguilar said he ran for secretary of state because “[m]ore than ever, we need to defend every eligible American’s right to vote, remove barriers to voter participation, and make our elections as transparent as possible to maintain the public trust…I am committed to building on the work that many have started in a bi-partisan way, including modernizing, safeguarding and strengthening our democracy, our elections process and the voting rights of every Nevadan.”[2] Aguilar said Marchant would “use this position in a political way, and that’s detrimental…It really should be neutral, it should be impartial, it should be nonpartisan.”[1][3]

Marchant represented District 37 in the Nevada State Assembly from 2017 to 2021. Marchant said he ran for secretary of state because "Nevadans want to see the Secretary of State address their concerns about doing business and conducting fair and transparent elections in our state. I'm listening."[4] Marchant’s campaign website stated,“In 2020 Jim ran for Congress for Nevada’s Congressional District 4 and was a victim of election fraud.”[5] According to Marchant, “We haven’t, in Nevada, elected anybody since 2006…They have been installed by the deep state cabal.”[1] If elected, Marchant said his “number one priority [would] be to overhaul the fraudulent election system in Nevada” by repealing universal mail-in voting, requiring voter ID, allowing candidates to request election audits at their own expense, and mandating the use of paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines.[5][1][4]

As of November 2022, Aguilar and Marchant were nearly tied in polls that are detailed below. Campaign finance reports from the Nevada Secretary of State released in November 2022 showed Aguilar raised nearly $2 million and Marchant raised nearly $400,000 for this race.[6][7]

This was one of 27 elections for secretary of state taking place in 2022. Click here for an overview of these races. All but three states have a secretary of state. Although the specific duties and powers of the office vary from state to state, secretaries of state are often responsible for the maintenance of voter rolls and for administering elections. Other common responsibilities include registering businesses, maintaining state records, and certifying official documents. At the time of the 2022 elections, there were 27 Republican secretaries of state and 20 Democratic secretaries of state.

A state government triplex refers to a situation where the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. Heading into the 2022 elections, there were 23 Republican triplexes, 18 Democratic triplexes, and nine divided governments where neither party held triplex control. Nevada does not have a state government triplex.

Cisco Aguilar (D) and Jim Marchant (R) completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Click on a candidate's name to view that candidate's responses.

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election
General election for Nevada Secretary of State

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Cisco Aguilar
Cisco Aguilar (D) Candidate Connection
 
48.9
 
496,569
Image of Jim Marchant
Jim Marchant (R) Candidate Connection
 
46.7
 
473,467
Image of Janine Hansen
Janine Hansen (Independent American Party)
 
1.7
 
17,472
Image of Ross Crane
Ross Crane (L)
 
0.9
 
8,821
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.8
 
18,144

Total votes: 1,014,473
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Voting information

See also: Voting in Nevada

Election information in Nevada: Nov. 8, 2022, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Nov. 8, 2022
  • By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 11, 2022
  • Online: Nov. 8, 2022

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: Oct. 25, 2022
  • By mail: Received by Oct. 25, 2022
  • Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Nov. 8, 2022
  • By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 8, 2022

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 22, 2022 to Nov. 4, 2022

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

N/A


Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Image of Cisco Aguilar

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography "I’m Cisco Aguilar, Democratic nominee for Secretary of State in Nevada. My father was an IBEW electrician, who often worked in dangerous conditions to keep food on the table, and my mother stayed at home to take care of me and my brothers. I was the first in my family to graduate from college, earning both my MBA and JD from the University of Arizona. Over the last 20 years, I have focused my career on making Nevada the best place to live, raise a family, start a business - or all three. From serving as legal counsel for the Agassi Foundation for Education to building a school in one of our most vulnerable neighborhoods and now having a small business of my own, I know what many of our families are facing on a daily basis. I’m running for Nevada Secretary of State to support our small businesses and to protect every Nevadan’s right to vote. And as the past Chair of the Nevada Athletic Commission, I know how to put up a good fight and get things done. You can count on me to take that same passion and level of commitment to the Secretary of State’s office. "


Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.


I will take this job seriously, because nothing is more important than our freedom to vote. I will be a Secretary of State that all Nevadans can trust, no matter who they voted for. I believe that voting should be accessible for all eligible Nevadans, regardless of their political party, and I’ll make sure Nevada remains one of the nation’s leaders in accessible, secure voting.


As a small business owner who launched a startup in the middle of the pandemic, I know that our system isn’t working for working Nevadans. As an attorney who has handled corporate filings for years, I know no small business owner should have to hire an attorney just to navigate the Secretary of State’s system. We need to do better, because small businesses are the backbone of Nevada’s economy.


If elected, one of my first acts as Secretary of State will be passing legislation that protects Nevada’s election workers. Our public servants have been the victims of harassment and violent threats, prompted by conspiracy theorists from the extreme far-right. I will make sure our election workers, who are our friends and neighbors, are protected and can do their jobs without fear.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Nevada Secretary of State in 2022.

Image of Jim Marchant

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography "About Jim Marchant for Secretary of State President Donald Trump describes Jim Marchant as a “Legendary Businessman”. As a businessman, he was tired of the government punishing job creators so Jim decided to take matters into his own hands, he ran and defeated a tax-raising moderate/liberal Republican in the Nevada Assembly District 37 in 2016. While in the Nevada Assembly, he fought against the Establishment in both parties for lower taxes, less burdensome regulations, gun rights, and a more transparent government. He was ranked the top conservative legislator by conservative groups such as American Conservative Union and Nevada Policy Research Institute. In the 2020 election, Marchant ran for Congress in Nevada’s Congressional 4 and was narrowly defeated by Steve Horsford despite being outspent 3-1 and widespread coordinated election fraud. "


Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.


Voter ID


Eliminate Electronic Voting Machines


Paper Ballots with anit-counterfeit measures built-in, Hand Counted

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Nevada Secretary of State in 2022.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

I will take this job seriously, because nothing is more important than our freedom to vote. I will be a Secretary of State that all Nevadans can trust, no matter who they voted for. I believe that voting should be accessible for all eligible Nevadans, regardless of their political party, and I’ll make sure Nevada remains one of the nation’s leaders in accessible, secure voting.

As a small business owner who launched a startup in the middle of the pandemic, I know that our system isn’t working for working Nevadans. As an attorney who has handled corporate filings for years, I know no small business owner should have to hire an attorney just to navigate the Secretary of State’s system. We need to do better, because small businesses are the backbone of Nevada’s economy.

If elected, one of my first acts as Secretary of State will be passing legislation that protects Nevada’s election workers. Our public servants have been the victims of harassment and violent threats, prompted by conspiracy theorists from the extreme far-right. I will make sure our election workers, who are our friends and neighbors, are protected and can do their jobs without fear.
Voter ID

Eliminate Electronic Voting Machines

Paper Ballots with anit-counterfeit measures built-in, Hand Counted
In addition to voting rights, I am very passionate about education and assisting first time business owners find the financial resources needed to grow their operations. From a young age, my parents instilled in me the value of a good education, which is why I went on to be the first in my family to graduate from college and eventually earn an MBA and law degree. It’s also the reason I helped found a school in one of Las Vegas’ most vulnerable neighborhoods. I’m very proud of the school and its innovative workforce development program that helps give kids like me the preparation they need for professional careers. Access to capital is key to the success of any business - whether it’s at the start of their journey or when they’re ready for an expansion. That’s why I helped bring Chicanos Por La Causa, one of the largest community development finance institutions in the country, to Nevada and serve as a resource for small business owners in our community. As Secretary of State I will continue to ensure this is a priority across our state.
Election Integrity
Supervises state and local elections.

Registers and files candidate contribution and expenditure reports. Registers corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, and business trusts. Registers trade names, trademarks, professional corporations and associations, and rights of publicity. Records Uniform Commercial Code statements and documents. Appoints, trains, and regulates Notaries Public. Administers the Confidential Address Program for victims of domestic violence. Regulates the state's securities industry and enforces securities law. Licenses and regulates athletes' agents. Maintains the state Advanced Directives Registry. Maintains the State Video Service Provider Certificates of Authority. Keeps a true record of the Official Acts of the Legislative and Executive Departments of the Government, attesting all the official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and affixing the seal of the State, with proper attestations, to all commissions, pardons, and other public instruments to which the signature of the Governor is required. Keeps the official bond of the Treasurer.

Serves on the State Board of Prison Commissioners, the State Board of Examiners, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board, the State Records Committee, the State Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy, and the Executive Branch Audit Committee.
George Washington, Our Founders, Robert E. Lee, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Milton Friedman. All, because all of them are Preeminent Conservative Leaders
Honesty and Integrity as well as having extensive experience in the private sector as an executive of several technology businesses as well as having been elected to a legislative office before. Ability to lead and stick to my principles despite extreme pressure to violate them.
Fixing our flawed election system
Convenience store clerk. 3 months between 8th and 9th grade during summer break.
Atlas Shrugged. It made me realize how oppressive and harmful a tyrannical government can be.
Have extensive experience in the private sector as an owner/executive of technology businesses as well as having been elected to a legislative office before.


Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Democratic Party Cisco Aguilar

September 23, 2022

View more ads here:


Republican Party Jim Marchant

April 26, 2022

View more ads here:


Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[8] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[9] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

Below we provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval.


Nevada Secretary of State, 2002 election polls
Poll Date Democratic Party Aguilar Republican Party Marchant Undecided/Other Margin of error Sample size[10] Sponsor[11]
CNN/SSRS September 26 - October 2, 2022 44% 44% 12%[12] ± 4.7 926 LV CNN
The Nevada Independent September 20-29, 2022 31% 39% 26%[13] ± 3.6 741 LV
Suffolk University August 14-17, 2022 27% 31% 42%[14] ± 4.4 500 RV Reno Gazette Journal


Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.


Election spending

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from candidates submitted to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office for this election. It does not include information on spending by satellite groups. Click here to access the reports.

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

Presidential elections

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nevada and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Nevada, 2022
District Incumbent Party PVI
Nevada's 1st Dina Titus Electiondot.png Democratic D+3
Nevada's 2nd Mark Amodei Ends.png Republican R+8
Nevada's 3rd Susie Lee Electiondot.png Democratic D+1
Nevada's 4th Steven Horsford Electiondot.png Democratic D+3


2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, Nevada[15]
District Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Nevada's 1st 53.2% 44.7%
Nevada's 2nd 43.1% 54.1%
Nevada's 3rd 52.4% 45.7%
Nevada's 4th 53.0% 44.8%


2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2020 presidential election, 88.6% of Nevadans lived in either Clark or Washoe County, the state's two Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 11.4% lived in one of 15 Solid Republican counties. Overall, Nevada was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Nevada following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

Nevada presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 17 Democratic wins
  • 14 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party D R D D D R R R D D D D D R R D D R R R R R R D D R R D D D D

Statewide elections

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Nevada

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Nevada.

U.S. Senate election results in Nevada
Race Winner Runner up
2018 50.4%Democratic Party 45.4%Republican Party
2016 47.1%Democratic Party 44.7%Republican Party
2012 45.9%Republican Party 44.7%Democratic Party
2010 50.2%Democratic Party 44.6%Republican Party
2006 55.4%Republican Party 41.0%Democratic Party
Average 49.8 44.1

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Nevada

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Nevada.

Gubernatorial election results in Nevada
Race Winner Runner up
2018 49.4%Democratic Party 45.3%Republican Party
2014 70.6%Republican Party 23.9%Democratic Party
2010 53.4%Republican Party 41.6%Democratic Party
2006 47.9%Republican Party 43.9%Democratic Party
2002 68.2%Republican Party 22.0%Democratic Party
Average 57.9 35.3

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Nevada's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Nevada, November 2022
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 3 5
Republican 0 1 1
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 4 6

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Nevada's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in Nevada, November 2022
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Steve Sisolak
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Lisa Cano Burkhead
Secretary of State Republican Party Barbara K. Cegavske
Attorney General Democratic Party Aaron D. Ford

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Nevada State Legislature as of November 2022.

Nevada State Senate

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 12
     Republican Party 9
     Vacancies 0
Total 21

Nevada State Assembly

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 25
     Republican Party 16
     Vacancies 1
Total 42

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, Nevada was a Democratic trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Nevada Party Control: 1992-2022
Five years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D
Senate D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D R R D D D D D D
House D D D S S D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D

Demographics

The table below details demographic data in Nevada and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for Nevada
Nevada United States
Population 3,104,614 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 109,859 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 62.1% 70.4%
Black/African American 9.3% 12.6%
Asian 8.3% 5.6%
Native American 1.2% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.7% 0.2%
Two or more 7.5% 5.2%
Hispanic/Latino 28.9% 18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate 86.9% 88.5%
College graduation rate 25.5% 32.9%
Income
Median household income $62,043 $64,994
Persons below poverty level 12.8% 12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


State profile

Demographic data for Nevada
 NevadaU.S.
Total population:2,883,758316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):109,7813,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:69%73.6%
Black/African American:8.4%12.6%
Asian:7.7%5.1%
Native American:1.1%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.6%0.2%
Two or more:4.4%3%
Hispanic/Latino:27.5%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:85.1%86.7%
College graduation rate:23%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$51,847$53,889
Persons below poverty level:17.8%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nevada.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nevada

Nevada voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.


More Nevada coverage on Ballotpedia

2022 battleground elections

See also: Battlegrounds

This election was a battleground race. Other 2022 battleground elections included:

See also

Nevada State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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Party control of state government
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State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes