Carson City’s Ron Knecht elected to Nevada controller

Carson City’s Ron Knecht was on his way to becoming the next state controller, leading Democratic Assemblyman Andrew Martin by a significant margin.

IAP candidate Tom Jones was third in the face.

Knecht said he hoped to carry all 17 counties and, once the tally was final, would resign his post on the Board of Regents.

“We carried a positive campaign message talking about my qualifications and what I wanted to do as controller and people heard it and responded to it,” he said.

Knecht said he wants to replace the existing information technology system in the office and post the state’s checkbook online for all to see.

Dan Schwartz, who has degrees both in law and business, was the apparent victor in the race for state treasurer. He argued his 35 years of business experience including as CEO at AVCJ Group, Ltd gives him unique qualifications for the job.

He said he would expand the college savings, scholarship and prepaid tuition programs operated by the office and create a micro-finance loan program “to help get hard working Nevadans back to work instead of paying fees to out of state bankers.”

Schwartz was beating outgoing Controller Kim Wallin by 10 percentage points — or 50,000 votes — with three-fourths of the vote counted. Wallin was seeking to move to the treasurer’s post vacated by Kate Marshall. Both were term limited in their existing posts.

In a heated battle for attorney general, Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller and Republican Adam Laxalt were neck-and-neck in the contest between candidates from a pair of Nevada families with storied political histories.

A combination of Republicans’ unexpected advantage in early voting and Democrats’ apparent disinterest in the midterm also was fueling longtime Republican state Sen. Barbara Cegavske who defeated Democratic Treasurer Kate Marshall to win the race for secretary of state.

Results were updated as of the Appeal’s 12:30 a.m. deadline.