Rare three-way General Election race for county commissioner

One race that won’t be on the dais at tonight’s Town Hall Debate will be the race for District 1 county commissioner, which includes three candidates on the ballot.

The last nonpartisan candidate to seek a seat on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners was Janet Murphy, who ran against Don Miner in 1998.

Murphy would be back on the ballot as a Republican in the 2022 primary, losing to Wes Rice.

Current nonpartisan candidate Brian Dempsey is up against both Douglas County’s substantial Republican majority and history.

The last nonpartisan county commissioner was Cecil Stodieck, who was unopposed in 1946. Two years later, he lost to Republican Melvin Schwake, and the R’s have dominated the county board ever since.

County Commissioner Danny Tarkanian and Dempsey debated at the Oct. 1 Good Governance Group, where Tarkanian was monitoring his daughter’s golf game while batting away Dempsey’s attempts to engage him.

“I’m just being a good dad,” the Republican incumbent explained to those in the room.

On the other side of the ballot, Dempsey is also facing Jason Garrett Gibson, whose candidacy is being challenged by Douglas County.

The case was dismissed without prejudice by District Court Judge Tod Young, who said the printing of ballots rendered it moot.

Gibson filed for county commissioner as a Democrat in March, just over a week after he registered to vote. He allegedly changed his affiliation to the Natural Law Party in July, something the county didn’t learn until August.

Young said because the ballots had already been printed, Gibson will remain listed as a Democrat.

“In the event that Gibson is selected by the citizens of Douglas County during the November election to serve as a county commissioner, the clerk may resume seeking any relief available in the process to certify the election,” Young said in his opinion.

On Monday, the county appealed Young’s decision to the Nevada Supreme Court, seeking authorization to post notices that Gibson is disqualified from the ballot.

Gibson spoke at the Oct. 3 County Commission meeting urging Johnson Lane residents to form their own government.