Incumbent fends off far-right challenge in local Nevada race with potential elections implications

A Republican incumbent on a commission that has a hand in overseeing elections in Nevada’s major swing county has fended off a far-right challenge and secured her party’s nomination in a race that could have had implications for national elections.

Heading into Nevada’s primary on Tuesday, the incumbent, Clara Andriola, had been facing a challenge from the far right for her seat on the Washoe County Board of Commissioners, part of an ongoing effort by election conspiracy theorists who want to create a majority on the board that has some important oversight of the county elections office.

Washoe includes Reno and is the second-largest county by population in the key presidential and Senate battleground state.

Andriola has said that administering elections should not be a partisan issue. In a statement Wednesday, she said her primary victory “is validation that Washoe County voters care about policy, not politics.”

Andriola is likely favored to win reelection from her district, which covers a reliably Republican-leaning part of the county.

The commission’s authority over its election department includes appointing the registrar of voters, certifying the vote counts, identifying polling locations and providing ballots in Spanish in a county where the population is about one-quarter Latino. The state and courts provide a safeguard against any local manipulation of elections.

The effort to unseat Andriola was backed by wealthy far-right political activist Robert Beadles, who has been trying for years to tip the balance of power on the commission further to the right: He has publicly spread rumors about the family lives of officials he opposes, unsuccessfully sued to oust county officials and roll back protections for election