Bagwell, Schuette officially declared victors as primary results canvassed

The 2020 primary election results are now official.

Supervisor Lori Bagwell is Carson City’s next and first woman mayor and Lisa Schuette is the city’s next Ward 4 supervisor starting next year. Maurice White and Stacie Wilke-McCulloch, the top two vote getters in the race for supervisor Ward 2, will vie for that office in the general election Nov. 3.

The Board of Supervisors met Friday morning to canvass the vote.

“We had two months notice to do an all mail-in election. It was all hands on deck,” said Aubrey Rowlatt, clerk-recorder. “This election was very challenging, with passage of same-day registration and mail in voting.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the election was conducted with mail-in ballots only. A polling place was open on election day, June 9, when voters could also register to vote and deliver their ballots rather than mail them in.

Rowlatt said 300 people showed up on election day, 22 to register and 15 to correct or change their registrations.

Voter turnout was nearly 40 percent, or 13,699 ballots, and Rowlatt said she anticipates 90 percent turnout for the upcoming general election in the fall.

There were no discrepancies in the primary, she said.

“On behalf of the community, thank you for running a fraud-free, error-free election,” said Mayor Bob Crowell.

Ballots postmarked by election day were received and counted through June 16, creating suspense in the race for mayor where Bagwell’s percentage hovered around 50 percent. If it had dropped below that, she and her closest opponent, former Supervisor Jim Shirk, would have gone on to the general election to decide the race.

“If the vote holds, my charge will be to maintain and improve our quality of life,” said Bagwell after election day but before the final results were official. “We all love our small-town atmosphere and want to keep it. I will work hard to make our community a better place for you to live and raise your children.”

Bagwell received 50.3 percent, or 6,714 votes, enough to win election as mayor in the primary. Shirk received 23 percent, or 3,076 while Tod Jennings garnered 2,012 votes or 15 percent, Nathaniel Killgore received 808 votes or 6 percent, and Aaron Sims got 737 votes or 5.5 percent.

In the race for Supervisor Ward 2, White received 4,462 votes or 34.7 percent while Wilke-McCulloch got 3,972 or 30.9 percent. Ronni Hannaman received 3,691 votes or 28.7 percent and Lorne Houle got 737 votes or 5.7 percent.

Lisa Schuette received 65.4 percent or 8,444 votes, enough to make her supervisor Ward 4-elect. Her opponents were Ronald Bratsch who got 2,432 votes or 18.8 percent, and Michael Smith who received 2,040 votes or 15.8 percent.

Also elected as school trustees were Laurel Crossman and Michael Walker, who both ran unopposed. Crossman was elected as District 2 trustee and received 10,850 votes and Walker was elected as District 5 trustee with 10,693 votes.