2018 Nevada Secretary of State election

2018 Nevada Secretary of State election

←  2014 November 6, 2018 (2018-11-06) 2022  →

Candidate Barbara Cegavske Nelson Araujo Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 467,880 461,551 Percentage 48.91% 48.25%

County results Congressional district results Cegavske:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Araujo:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Secretary of State before election Barbara Cegavske Republican Elected Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske Republican

The 2018 Nevada Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Secretary of State of Nevada, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, and other state and local elections. Primary elections were held on June 12, 2018. ^[1]

Incumbent Republican secretary Barbara Cegavske ran for re-election to a second term in office against Democratic assemblyman Nelson Araujo. ^{[2] [3]} Despite a blue wave across the state and Democrats winning every other major statewide office, Cegavske narrowly won re-election to a second term in office. ^{[4] [5]}

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Barbara Cegavske, incumbent secretary of state (2015-present) ^[6]

Eliminated in primary

• Ernest Aldridge ^[7]

Results

Republican primary results ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Cegavske (incumbent)	85,355	62.54%
	Republican	Ernest Aldridge	36,508	26.75%
	None of These Candidates		14,613	10.71%
Total votes			136,476	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Nelson Araujo, state assemblyman from the 3rd district (2014-present) ^[9]

Declined

• Oscar Delgado, Reno city councilman ^[10]
• Pat Spearman, state senator from the 1st district (2013-present) (endorsed Araujo) ^[3]

General election

Endorsements

Barbara Cegavske (R)

Newspapers and other media

• Las Vegas Review-Journal ^[11]

Organizations

• Maggie's List ^[12]

Nelson Araujo (D)

Executive branch officials

• Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States (2009-2017) and former United States Senator from Delaware (1973-2009) ^[13]
• Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States (2009-2017) and former United States Senator from Illinois (2005-2008) ^[14]

U.S. senators

• Catherine Cortez Masto, incumbent United States Senator from Nevada (2017-present) and former Nevada Attorney General (2007-2015) ^[3]
• Harry Reid, former Senate Majority Leader (2007-2015), former United States Senator from Nevada (1987-2017), and U.S. representative from Nevada's 1st congressional district (1983-1987) ^[3]

Statewide officials

• Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State (2013-2017) ^[15]

State senators

• Pat Spearman, state senator from the 1st district (2013-present) ^[3]

State representatives

• Jason Frierson, incumbent Speaker of the Nevada Assembly (2017-present), state assemblyman from the 8th district (2013-present) and 26th district (2011-2013) ^[3]

Newspapers and other media

• Las Vegas Sun ^[16]

Labor unions

• Culinary Workers Union ^[17]
• United Food and Commercial Workers ^[18]

Organizations

• Human Rights Campaign ^[19]
• LGBTQ Victory Fund ^[20]

Results

2018 Nevada Secretary of State election ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Cegavske (incumbent)	467,880	48.91%
	Democratic	Nelson Araujo	461,551	48.25%
	None of These Candidates		27,200	2.84%
Total votes			956,631	100.00%
	Republican hold

By county

2018 Nevada Secretary of State election (by county) ^[21]

County	Barbara Cegavske Republican		Nelson Araujo Democratic		N/A None of These Candidates		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Carson City	13,124	57.95%	8,886	39.24%	636	2.81%	4,238	18.71%	22,646
Churchill	7,193	75.17%	2,117	22.12%	259	2.71%	5,076	53.05%	9,569
Clark	285,613	44.72%	334,808	52.42%	18,278	2.86%	-49,195	-7.70%	638,699
Douglas	17,167	66.90%	7,916	30.85%	576	2.25%	9,251	36.05%	25,659
Elko	11,768	77.90%	2,875	19.03%	463	3.07%	8,893	58.87%	15,106
Esmeralda	291	78.86%	57	15.45%	21	5.69%	234	63.41%	369
Eureka	649	85.85%	74	9.79%	33	4.36%	575	76.06%	756
Humboldt	4,102	75.81%	1,126	20.81%	183	3.38%	2,976	55.00%	5,411
Lander	1,585	75.84%	393	18.80%	112	5.36%	1,192	57.04%	2,090
Lincoln	1,610	83.08%	239	12.33%	89	4.59%	1,371	70.75%	1,938
Lyon	14,513	69.88%	5,648	27.20%	606	2.92%	8,865	42.68%	20,767
Mineral	1,067	59.48%	617	34.39%	110	6.13%	450	25.09%	1,794
Nye	12,212	70.23%	4,529	26.05%	647	3.72%	7,683	44.18%	17,388
Pershing	1,262	71.91%	432	24.62%	61	3.47%	830	47.29%	1,755
Storey	1,561	66.31%	727	30.88%	66	2.81%	834	35.43%	2,354
Washoe	91,787	49.08%	90,350	48.31%	4,872	2.61%	1,437	0.77%	187,009
White Pine	2,376	73.77%	657	20.40%	188	5.83%	1,719	53.37%	3,221

By congressional district

Cegavske won two of four congressional districts, one of which elected a Democrat. ^[22]

District	Cegavske	Araujo	Representative
1st	35%	61%	Dina Titus
2nd	56%	41%	Mark Amodei
3rd	50%	47%	Jacky Rosen (115th Congress)
			Susie Lee (116th Congress)
4th	47.6%	49.4%	Ruben Kihuen (115th Congress)
			Steven Horsford (116th Congress)

References

1. "2018 Primary Elections by State and territory" (PDF). Marine Corps Installation East. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
2. Botkin, Ben (October 23, 2017). "Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske running for second term". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
3. Rindels, Michelle (September 18, 2017). "Democratic Assemblyman Nelson Araujo enters secretary of state race, Spearman withdraws from consideration". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
4. Rindels, Michelle; Rothberg, Daniel; Solis, Jacob; Valley, Jackie (November 7, 2018). "A blue night: Steve Sisolak triumphs over Republican Adam Laxalt, appears to bring fellow Democrats in statewide races on coattails". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
5. Snyder, Riley; Messerly, Megan (November 8, 2018). "Female candidates, including Cegavske, make historic gains after midterm election". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
6. Rindels, Michelle (July 31, 2017). "As potential challengers emerge, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske 'absolutely running' again". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
7. Snyder, Riley; Messerly, Megan (June 12, 2018). "Indy Primer: What races to watch for on Primary Election Day". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
8. "Nevada Primary Election 2018 - Statewide". Nevada Secretary of State. July 16, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
9. "Assemblyman Nelson Araujo Enters Race for Nevada Secretary of State". 2 News Nevada. September 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
10. Rindels, Michelle (September 14, 2017). "As Delgado decides against secretary of state bid, sources say Araujo will run". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
11. "EDITORIAL: Review-Journal's endorsements in Tuesday election". Las Vegas Review-Journal. November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
12. "Maggie's List Announces 2018 National Endorsements Supporting 49 Women Candidates Running for US Congress and Statewide Executive Office". Maggie's List. May 2, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
13. "Biden endorses Democrat Araujo for Nevada Secretary of State". Associated Press. June 19, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
14. Snyder, Riley (October 1, 2018). "Obama endorses additional 12 Nevada Democratic candidates ahead of midterms". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
15. Kander, Jason (June 28, 2018). "What's at stake in secretary of state race: Kander". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
16. "Down the ballot: We share our picks for local, state races". Las Vegas Sun. October 21, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
17. "2018 Endorsed Candidates" (PDF). Culinary Workers Union. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
18. "2018 Nevada Labor Endorsements". UFCW West. September 19, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
19. Metzger, Ianthe (March 22, 2018). "HRC Endorses Nelson Araujo for Nevada Secretary of State". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
20. Younker, Lauren (December 18, 2017). "Victory fund endorses three historic LGBTQ candidates for 2018". LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
21. "Statewide - Nevada General Election 2018". Nevada Secretary of State. November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
22. "NV 2020 Congressional". Dave's Redistricting. Retrieved November 17, 2025.