Lee Bonner will be new county commissioner

Former opponents were congratulatory as the dust settled on the 2010 Douglas County commission race.

County Commissioner Nancy McDermid hung onto her seat for a second term, while challenger Lee Bonner defeated County Commissioner Dave Brady.

McDermid defeated opponent Lawrence Howell 9,469 to 9,023 votes. McDermid said Howell called her and congratulated her on her victory.

"I'm very humbled and very honored to have been re-elected," she said. "I believe that Lawrence and I ran a very positive campaign. We were not personal. We stayed on the issues and took the high road. Lawrence called me tonight and he was gracious about everything."

Bonner defeated Brady 9,403 to 9,137 votes, with 76 percent of the county's voters casting a ballot.

"I am very humbled that the people of this county elected me to the commission," he said. "The fact that they would elect somebody who's been here five years, I feel privileged. I promise I will work hard and make this the best county that we can be."

Bonner said he knew the race would be close and thanked Brady for his service.

"Dave (Brady) has served the commission well for almost six years," he said. "I would like to thank Dave for his service to the county. I would like to thank my campaign team and my supporters for all the great work they did.

"We had the right message. We know we need to bring jobs here. That's the way to survive this economic downturn."

Brady congratulated Bonner on his victory and thanked the people of Douglas County for the opportunity to serve.

"It has been a great honor to serve Douglas County as commissioners for the last six years," he said. "Candidly, it is very hard for me to face the fact that Dec. 31 will be my last day as a member of the board. I love this community. Douglas County is where I married my lovely wife, where I raised my children and where I've managed my business."

Brady said he knew that during his time on the commission, he helped streamline the county's operations.

As a commissioner, I have always made my decisions with our community's best interest in mind," he said. "It gives me great pleasure to know that I helped the county become a leaner, more fiscally responsive and accountable government, and that I was part of major public policy decisions that have and will continue to positively impact our community. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to serve as a commissioner. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to serve as a commissioner. I offer my congratulations to Mr. Bonner and hope that his experience as a commissioner will be as enjoyable and rewarding as it was for me."

McDermid said that there are a lot of issues facing the county in the future.

"We have a lot of challenges, and we are going to have to work together," she said. "None of us have all the answers. We certainly need everybody's input, not just elected officials but all of the residents. We are fortunate to have an engaged electorate in Nevada."

Howell said he ran the campaign he wanted to run when he filed for office in March.

"Eight months ago made a list of everything I wanted to do," he said. "I wanted to go door to door, listen to the voters of Douglas County. Two nights I went to bed and had the best night's sleep I've had. All through yesterday, I was at peace, because I did what I said I was going to do. I have a lot of respect for the voters and I honor the process and honor the results."

Howell said he was proud that the campaign stayed positive.

"We both talked about ourselves and what we would bring to the process," he said. "It's better when it's that way. We had a great election night party to thank the many people who were involved in my campaign. I had a good time last night despite the results. The next board of commissioners has a lot of work to do."