Election 2026: Two incumbent Clark County judges are defeated

Two incumbent Clark County District Court judges lost their seats in Tuesday's election while the status of a third judge remains in question depending on how many votes are still left to be counted.

Judge Jerry Wiese, who has sat in the Department 30 civil/criminal seat since 2011, was trailing attorney Josh Santeramo by 1.6 percent early Wednesday morning, according to the Clark County Election Department. 

Santeramo has practiced law for 15 years, including 10 years in private practice and five years with the Nevada Attorney for Injured Workers, a state agency. He had 50.8 percent of the vote.

Family Court Judge Bill Henderson, who has been in Department R since 2008, was defeated by family law attorney Marilyn Caston, who earned 60 percent of the vote. Caston has practiced family law for more than 16 years. She is a junior partner at Nevada Family Law Group. 

One civil/crimial District Court race is still in question. Judge Jacob Reynolds, who was trailing challenger Alex Quagge in the early vote counts for Department 29, had a 1.2 percent lead Wednesday morning. Reynolds won the seat in a 2024 special election.

Quagge is a criminal prosecutor in the Clark County District Attorney's Office. He also served as a military attorney in the U.S. Army. 

Clark County voters decided on 16 of the 58 District Court civil/criminal and family judge positions in  the election. Judges in the other 42 seats were unopposed. 

In Department 28, which was left open by the retirement of Judge Ron Israel, Justice of the Peace Noreen DeMonte prevailed over private practice attorney Danielle Tarmu with more than 51 percent of the vote. DeMonte was elected to the Clark County Justice Court, Department 10, in 2022. Her seat will be filled through an appointment by the Clark County Commission.

Two seats in Family Court left open by the retirements of Judge Bob Teuton and Vincent Ochoa were filled Tuesday night.

In Department D, Gwynneth Smith, a chief deputy in the district attorney's office juvenile division, defeated family law attorney Patricia Marr with more than 55 percent of the vote. In Department S, family law attorney Kristine Brewer beat Family Court Commissioner Randall Forman with nearly 56 percent of the vote.

In Washoe County, voters weighed in on just two of the 14 District Court races. In the other 12, the sitting judge was uncontested.

The open District Court Department 1 civil-criminal seat was won by Senior Justice of the Peace Derek Dreiling, who spent 22 years as a Washoe County deputy district attorney. He defeated Washoe County Probate Commissioner Edmund "Joe" Gorman Jr. with 52 percent of the vote.

Gorman had gained fame for overseeing the court battle involving media baron Rupert Murdoch, who sought to change his multibillion–dollar family trust.

In the other Washoe County contested race, Family Court Judge Alexander Morey won a full term in Department 13, a race that stirred controversy. His challenger died in late August and it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. 

Morey, a longtime Reno family law attorney, was appointed to the seat in April by Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) after Judge Bridget Robb stepped down over charges she stalked the girlfriend of a former sexual partner.