Nevadans decide U.S. Senate, House, state Supreme Court, legislative primaries

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2000 | 9:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Former Nevada Rep. John Ensign, denied a U.S. Senate seat two years ago by a mere 428 votes, easily won the Republican nomination Tuesday in his second bid for the Senate.

Partial returns showed Ensign trouncing his closest opponent, Richard Hamzik, by a 20-to-1 margin.

Ensign will face Democratic nominee Ed Bernstein in the Nov. 7 general election for the right to succeed Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who is retiring. Bernstein had no primary opposition.

In Nevada's 1st Congressional District, Republican state Sen. Jon Porter was an easy winner over GOP primary foes Nancy Price and Jim Blockey. Early returns showed him capturing two-thirds of the votes.

In Nevada's 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., romped to an easy primary win over political newcomer Mitchell Tracy. Partial returns showed Gibbons with about 90 percent of the votes.

In a three-way state Supreme Court contest, incumbent Justice Nancy Becker had two-thirds of the votes while challengers Gary Backus and Day Williams trailed badly. Williams even ran behind "none of the above" which received 10 percent of the vote.

The top two vote-getters in the high court race will advance to a general election runoff.

Among Nevada's primary battles for seats in the state Legislature, veteran Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, had a slight edge over casino-backed challenger Uri Clinton. Christopher Montanez also was in the race, although he did not campaign.

Early returns showed Neal, who took on Nevada's biggest casinos by pushing a plan to raise their taxes, with nearly half the vote. But Clinton was only a few points behind.

If neither gets more than 50 percent, they both advance to a general election runoff.