2012 Nevada Senate election

2012 Nevada Senate election

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →

12 out of 21 seats in the Nevada Senate
11 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Steven Horsford
(retired)
Mike McGinness
(term-limited)
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since February 9, 2009 November 2010
Leader's seat District 4 District 18
Last election 11 10
Seats after 11 10
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 292,296 216,441
Percentage 55.08% 40.79%

Majority Leader before election

Steven Horsford
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mo Denis
Democratic

The 2012 Nevada Senate election was held on November 6, 2012, to determine which party would control the Nevada Senate for the following two years in the 77th Nevada Legislature. Twelve out of the 21 seats in the Nevada Senate were up for election, including two special elections in District 9 and District 13 for the remaining two years of Republican Elizabeth Helgelien's and Democrat Sheila Leslie's terms following their resignations in 2012. The primary was held on June 12, 2012. Prior to the election, 11 seats were held by Democrats and 10 seats were held by Republicans. The general election saw neither party gain nor lose any seats, thereby meaning that Democrats retained their majority in the State Senate.[1][2]

Predictions

[edit]
Source Ranking As of
Governing[3] Tossup October 24, 2012

Retirements

[edit]

Democrats

[edit]
  1. District 3: Valerie Wiener was term-limited.
  2. District 4: Steven Horsford retired to successfully run for Nevada's 4th congressional district.
  3. District 5: Shirley Breeden retired.
  4. District 6: Allison Copening retired.
  5. District 11: Michael A. Schneider was term-limited.

Republicans

[edit]
  1. District 18: Mike McGinness was term-limited.
  2. District 19: Dean Rhoads was term-limited.

Incumbents defeated

[edit]

In primary

[edit]

Democrats

[edit]
  1. District 1: John Lee lost renomination to Patricia Spearman.

Closest races

[edit]

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

  1. District 15, 0.46%
  2. District 9, 0.70% (gain)
  3. District 6, 1.66% (gain)
  4. District 18, 2.76%
  5. District 5, 3.92%

Results

[edit]
District 1 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Patricia Spearman (incumbent) 29,026 68.71%
Independent American Gregory Hughes 13,221 31.29%
Total votes 42,247 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 3 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard Segerblom 21,745 64.38%
Republican Ed Gobel 12,032 35.62%
Total votes 33,777 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 4 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kelvin Atkinson 27,422 79.79%
Republican Linda West Myers 6,946 20.21%
Total votes 34,368 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 5 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joyce Woodhouse 26,520 51.96%
Republican Steve Kirk 24,524 48.04%
Total votes 51,044 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 6 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mark Hutchison 27,499 50.83%
Democratic Benny Yerushalmi 26,598 49.17%
Total votes 54,097 100.0%
Republican gain from Democratic
District 7 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Parks (incumbent) 25,567 64.15%
Republican Trish Marsh 14,285 35.85%
Total votes 39,852 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 9 special election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Justin Jones 21,849 50.35%
Republican Mari Nakashima St. Martin 21,548 49.65%
Total votes 43,397 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican
District 11 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Aaron Ford 22,188 62.25%
Republican John Drake 13,453 37.75%
Total votes 35,641 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 13 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Debbie Smith 25,975 64.73%
Republican Kathy Martin 14,151 35.27%
Total votes 40,126 100.0%
Democratic hold
District 15 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Greg Brower (incumbent) 29,352 50.23%
Democratic Sheila Leslie 29,086 49.77%
Total votes 58,438 100.0%
Republican hold
District 18 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Scott Hammond 27,364 51.38%
Democratic Kelli Ross 25,893 48.62%
Total votes 53,257 100.0%
Republican hold
District 19 election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pete Goicoechea 25,287 56.97%
Democratic Harley Z. Kulkin 10,427 23.49%
Independent American Janine Hansen 8,675 19.54%
Total votes 44,389 100.0%
Republican hold

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Nevada State Senate elections, 2012". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  2. ^ "Nevada State Senate". nvsos.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  3. ^ Daigneau, Elizabeth; Jacobson, Louis (October 24, 2012). "The Latest Chamber-by-Chamber Analysis of the 2012 State Legislative Elections". Governing. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2025.