Week of Nov. 5, 2026

From the publisher’s desk

I am a fifth-generation Northern Nevadan, and I never thought I’d see the day that a Democrat represented the area in Congress.

But here we are—or, here we will be in January, when the new Congress, including Teresa Benitez-Thompson, is sworn in.

The fact that a Democrat can win Nevada’s Congressional District 2 seat—if the electorate’s mood is sufficiently leaning blue, and the Republican candidate is sufficiently god-awful—was one lesson we learned from Election Day.

Another lesson (although this one is more of a helpful reminder rather than a lesson learned): Every single vote can make a difference.

As of this writing on Thursday afternoon, several local races remain too close to call. One is the Reno City Council race, where Eddie Gomez (5,455, or 50.58 percent) leads incumbent Meghan Ebert (5,330 votes, or 49.42 percent) by just 125 votes.

And then there’s the Sparks mayoral race. Wendi Rawson has 16,382 votes; incumbent Ed Lawson has 16,371 votes. That’s a difference of 11 votes, or .04 percent.

It will take a couple of days, at least, to determine the outcome of these races. According to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters:

As of 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, the Washoe County Registrar of Voters estimates approximately 14,000 outstanding mail ballots remain to be processed and added to results for the 2026 General Election.

• 200 mail ballots are currently undergoing signature verification.

• 13,800 mail ballots are undergoing sorting, extraction and scanning.

Additionally, approximately 2,300 provisional ballots remain under review for eligibility. Voters required to provide additional documentation have until 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, to do so. Eligible provisional ballots are expected to be added to election results early next week.

Since the last update, the Registrar of Voters office has received an additional 2,200 eligible mail ballots to be processed.

Including outstanding mail and provisional ballots, Washoe County estimates that approximately 92% of ballots have been counted for the 2026 General Election.

The county says updates will be posted at 6 p.m. once a day at electionresults.washoecounty.gov.

Voting matters, folks. And specifically: YOUR vote matters.

Introducing our Newcomers’ Guide

On Monday, we published our all-new guide for newcomers to the area, and locals who want to get to know the area better. “Reno for Real” can be perused at renonr.com/insiders-guide. For people who prefer print, 15,000 copies will be distributed at select locations in Reno and Sparks over the next few months.

The online version of the guide will be updated and added to regularly. (We’ve already updated one story following the election, adding that the state will be switching from a Republican governor to a Democrat. Life moves fast!)

Again, you can check out all the great stuff at renonr.com/insiders-guide. Enjoy!

Cheers,

—Jimmy Boegle, publisher/executive editor