Settelmeyer wins District 39 primary

Douglas County voters chose James Settelmeyer, a 35-year-old Republican and member of a pioneer family in Carson Valley, to run for the District 39 Assembly seat. He received 3,988 votes, or 57.98 percent.

Settelmeyer, who will face Democratic challenger JoEtta Brown in November, said growth and water are major concerns for the entire state, not just Douglas County.

"We need smart growth. We need to manage growth intelligently and that includes water," he said.

He supports using some of the surplus in the Nevada treasury this year to take care of future obligations which could cost taxpayers much more if not dealt with now, including the growing obligation to cover retirement costs for district judges and the debt, conservatively estimated at more than $1 billion, to cover health benefits for retired state workers.

District 39 candidate Rick Gardner received 1,404 votes, or 20.41 percent of Tuesday's vote in Douglas County. He edged out Settelmeyer in the small portion of District 39 that is part of Washoe County by 83 votes, but it wasn't enough to tip the balance.

"This was the first time I've run and I think we did pretty good," Gardner said. "We ran a real clean race. The campaign could have gone negative, but it didn't."

Barbara Smallwood received 1,255 votes, or 18.25 percent.

"John, Rick and I gave the voters a choice," Smallwood said. "I want to thank all my supporters and the wonderful people I met and got reacquainted with along the campaign trail.

Smallwood said she loves Douglas County and will continue to participate in the ongoing master plan review.

"Congratulations to Lynn Hettrick and the Settelmeyer family," she said.

Candidate John Dicks received 231 votes, or 3.36 percent in Douglas County. He congratulated Settelmeyer and his supporters on their win and said he wasn't discouraged by the loss. This was the first time he has run. He learned a lot and would like to run again, he said.

"If you look at what I did, it's a little surprising," he said. "I was the last to sign up and I spent no money except fuel and couple of meals."

Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.

BREAKOUT

Voter turnout in Douglas County for this primary was disappointing, said Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer Barbara Griffin-Reed.

Just 38.93 percent of Douglas County's 26,635 voters turned out for the primary, according to figures compiled by the Douglas County clerk-treasurer's office.

"I remember when people used to vote in Douglas County," Griffin-Reed said. "I had hoped we'd get 50 percent. Hopefully, the turnout will be better for the general election."

Nearly 48 percent of Republicans cast ballots in the election, but the turnout among Democrats was less than 38 percent and only 13.27 percent of non-partisan voters cast a ballot.

Aside from the low turnout, Reed said the election process went very smoothly. Douglas was the second county in the state to post results to the Secretary of State's Web site by just a few minutes.

"We had a good day," she said. "Everything flowed very nicely and we didn't have any problems. We were done by 9:30 p.m. It was a good election in that respect."

Nearly 48 percent of Republicans cast ballots in the election, but the turnout among Democrats was less than 38 percent and only 13.27 percent of non-partisan voters cast a ballot.