Wursten, Rapson win council seats, two others advance

Incumbent Edwards wins a landslide for Assembly District 19 race

Brian Wursten

Of the three Mesquite city council seats up for election this year, two have been decided in the primary race held Tuesday, June 14.

Brian Wursten came in first with 1,243 votes with a close second by incumbent George Rapson garnering 1,230 votes.

Because of the 50 percent-plus-1 vote rule, Wursten and Rapson win two of the three seats up for election and are deemed winners. That allows only the next two vote-getters to advance to the general election in November.

By dividing the 6,626 votes cast by three, that’s 2,208 votes per seat. To reach the 50-plus-1 threshold, a candidate had to get at least 1,104 plus one votes. Both Wursten and Rapson exceeded that mark.

George Rapson

The rule is based on total votes cast, not the number of voters registered or how each voter voted.

Dave Ballweg took third place with 1,087 votes while Cindi Delaney came in fourth with 955 votes. They will face each other for the third seat on the city council in November.

Dave West got 793 votes for fifth place, Mike Benham came in sixth place with 687 votes and CJ Larsen came in last place with 631 votes.

“I kept my campaign as clean as possible and I think that made a difference with the voters,” Chris Edwards told the Mesquite Local News about his more than 22-point win over Mesquite resident Connie Foust. Edwards will head back to Carson City for his second term in 2017 representing Assembly District 19. “I thank the voters for their confidence and their support. I look forward to returning to Carson City to work on my campaign promises that include jobs, education, accountability and veterans. I will also work on issues that will help the rural areas like Mesquite and Overton who deserve as much attention in the legislative sessions as anyone.”

Incumbent Judy Metz will run against Dave Bennett for the At-Large District #7 seat on the Overton Power District Board of Trustees in the November election. Metz, who lives in the Moapa Valley, took 43.76 percent of the votes while Bennett, a Mesquite resident, got 35.01 percent. Chuck Hanson, also from Mesquite came in third with 21.24 percent of the vote.

In other races affecting Mesquite and Bunkerville, Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D) will face Kevin Williams (R) for the Clark County Commission seat that Kirkpatrick was appointed to last summer. Incumbent Chris Garvey won a return trip to the Clark County School District Board of Trustees with a landslide win taking 54.09 percent of the vote.

Incumbent Cresent Hardy (R) will face Ruben Kihuen (D) in the Congressional District #4 while Dr. Joe Heck (R) will face Catherine Cortez-Masto (D) in the U.S. Senate.

REP – STATE ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 19

TRUSTEE, CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DIST. B