In the Republican primary for Washoe County Board of Commissioners District 4, incumbent Clara Andriola defeated Mark Lawson, who was endorsed by conspiracy theorist Robert Beadles, and Tracey Hilton-Thomas, who also had Beadles’ support.
Andriola, who in 2023 was appointed to the commission by Gov. Joe Lombardo, has been the swing vote on the five-member panel for election issues, including voting to certify election results. Although Andriola is a Donald Trump supporter, she doesn’t accept claims of a stolen election or widespread voter fraud. Of the five Republicans in the District 4 primary, Andriola was the only candidate who unequivocally acknowledged the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.
She won the primary with 43% of the vote and will face two nonpartisan challengers in her district, which leans Republican, in November.
Beadles, a GOP activist, donor and conspiracy theorist, insists elections are rigged in favor of Democrats. The Washoe County GOP, where Beadles sits on the executive committee, expelled Andriola from the party earlier this year.
Beadles has depicted Andriola as “Clara the Clown” and called her “a clownish Democrat parading as a Republican.” His PAC, The Franklin Project, sent out direct-mail postcards with the “Clara the Clown” image, as well as another mailer depicting Reno City Councilman Devon Reese as a drag queen. By law, political action committees are prohibited from coordinating their actions with the candidates they support. Local candidates endorsed by Beadles have denied any prior knowledge of the mailers.
Beadles did not respond to requests for comment.
In the District 1 Republican County Commission primary, Marsha Berkbigler won with 51% of the vote in the three-person race. Berkbigler, a former commissioner who lost her seat to Alexis Hill in 2020, will face Hill in a rematch on Nov. 5. Beadles contributed $5,000 to Berkbigler’s campaign, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office, but she has said she doesn’t agree with his theories about stolen elections.
Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman, who were not up for election this year, have ties to Beadles. In 2022, Herman, citing bogus claims of election fraud that have been debunked by state investigations, proposed drastic changes to election procedures. Those measures called for the use of paper ballots, hand-counting, stationing law enforcement officers at polling places and other changes backed by Beadles. The measure was defeated 4-1, with Herman as the lone vote in favor.
Runoffs in Reno City Council races
In November, Councilman Devon Reese will face Brian Cassidy for the Ward 5 seat on the Reno City Council. Cassidy received Beadles’ endorsement, and Beadles’ PAC sent out mailers depicting Reese, who is gay, as “Drag Queen Devon.” Cassidy has said he had no prior knowledge of the mailers and noted on Facebook that he was “shocked and disappointed.” He did not directly condemn the content of the mailers, despite comments on his post urging him to do so.
In the Ward 3 Reno City Council race, incumbent Miguel Martinez will face Denise Myer, who has Beadles’ support, in the general election.
Jim Marchant, who has said that Nevada hasn’t had an honest election since 2006, lost the GOP primary for U.S. Senate to Sam Brown, who will face Sen. Jacky Rosen in November. Brown got 60% of the vote; Jeff Gunter, Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, won 15%; and Marchant, who unsuccessfully ran for Nevada secretary of state in 2022, captured 7% of the vote in the 12-way race.
Beadles donated $2,500 to candidate Dorzell King in the District 2 race for the Nevada State Board of Education. King was defeated by incumbent Angela Orr, who captured 51% of the vote against King and two other challengers. King got 5% of the vote.