Nevada secretary of state-elect says his victory important ‘to protect’ nationwide elections
Cami Mondeaux
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Secretary of State-elect Cisco Aguilar (D) has maintained that his victory over Republican Jim Marchant, who based his campaign on claims the 2020 election was stolen, was a win not just for Nevada, but also for the country.
Aguilar defeated Marchant in the race for Nevada’s secretary of state, securing the office of the state’s highest election official and flipping the seat into Democratic control. The race had garnered nationwide attention as Marchant sought to take control of how the state administers elections, insisting the 2020 election was riddled with fraud.
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“[It was] knowing what we had at stake in this election in 2022 and but it was also about what we have at stake in 2024,” Aguilar told MSNBC. “We knew we had to protect the elections not just in Nevada but for the rest of the country. Carrying that burden and carrying that weight every single day when I woke up gave me the inspiration and the fortitude to get out there and fight every day.”
Marchant was one of a handful of so-called “election denier” candidates on the ballot during the midterm cycle, basing much of his campaign on former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. In response, Aguilar sought to run his campaign on promises to expand access to voting and to protect democracy.
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“The hard part, too, is that [Marchant] never showed up for anything. He never addressed the voters in Nevada,” Aguilar said. “He never justified his reasons for having the beliefs that he had or explained by he made such extreme statements.”
Aguilar defeated Marchant by 2.4 percentage points, flipping the seat to Democratic control for the first time since 2015. The race was a hotly contested election as Nevada is expected to be a battleground state in 2024.