Justice Court competitions in Las Vegas and suburbs show first results | Politics and government

Nevadans can expect to see several newcomers on the bench in the Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas courts, according to initial election results released late Tuesday.

Preliminary results showed that, notably, attorney James Dean Leavitt finished second in the five-candidate race for the Las Vegas Magistrate Judge seat in Department 4, receiving 23.6 percent of the vote.

Susan Baucum was the favorite at about 10 p.m., leading with 28.1 percent of the vote over Leavitt, Jessica Smith-Peterson, Hilary Heap and Holly Stoberski.

Leavitt’s previous unsuccessful attempts at judging spots were noted controversyincluding allegations that he once hit a roadside flagship, which he denies.

In the race for the Las Vegas Court Department 2 seat between incumbent Joseph Sciscento and Chief Deputy Public Defender Crystal Bradford, Bradford pulled ahead Tuesday night with 51.1 percent of the vote, initial results showed. This year Scishento faced an opponent for the first time.

Bradford, who said she wanted to take the position after years of representing “the most vulnerable people in our society.” interrogated a mailer sent by Sciscento’s campaign touting GOP support even though the judicial races were nonpartisan. Sciscento said support came from the Republican Club of Nevada and reprinted mailers.

In Las Vegas Court Department 5, Magistrate Judge and former Chief Judge Cynthia Dustin-Cruz led the polls against Chief Deputy District Attorney Madilyn “Leavitt” Cole with 51.6 percent of the vote, initial results showed.

Cole said the Justice Court needs a strong leader after Dustin-Cruz stepped down as chief judge, a move Dustin-Cruz said she made to continue to “do a phenomenal job” on the various committees she serves on .

Dustin-Cruz said Cole’s use of the family name “Leavitt” was her “attempt to take advantage of someone else’s reputation.” Cole said she is proud of her identity and wants people to know who she is. Dustin-Cruz also criticized the GOP logo on one of Cole’s mailers, but Cole said the group in question was not the GOP and did not violate judicial canons.

In Department 8, candidate Nancy Bernstein led her opponent Amy Ferreira on Tuesday night with 50.1 percent of the vote. Bernstein, criminal lawyer and civil judge, said she was inspired to run after her ex-husband Dennis Prince was shot and killed in his Summerlin law office in April. Ferreira, a hearing specialist, said she hopes to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Elsewhere, veteran prosecutor Sandy DiGiacomo had 58.3 percent of the vote at approximately 10 p.m., ahead of public defender Marla Renteria in race to a courthouse in Henderson.

In North Las Vegas, hearing master and former Army Air Corps officer Jonathan Cooper beat out lone former North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Shawn Hoffgen in the Court of Justice. seat with 74.8 percent of the vote, according to initial results.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at [email protected]. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.