2012 Nevada Senate election

2012 Nevada Senate election

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →
12 out of 21 seats in the Nevada Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Steven Horsford (retired) Mike McGinness (term-limited) Party Democratic Republican Leader since February 9, 2009 November 2010 Leader's seat District 4 District 18 Last election 11 10 Seats after 11 10 Seat change Popular vote 292,296 216,441 Percentage 55.08% 40.79%
Majority Leader before election Steven Horsford Democratic Elected Majority Leader Mo Denis Democratic

The 2012 Nevada Senate election was held on November 6, 2012, to determine which party would control the Nevada Senate for the following two years in the 77th Nevada Legislature. Twelve out of the 21 seats in the Nevada Senate were up for election, including two special elections in District 9 and District 13 for the remaining two years of Republican Elizabeth Helgelien's and Democrat Sheila Leslie's terms following their resignations in 2012. The primary was held on June 12, 2012. Prior to the election, 11 seats were held by Democrats and 10 seats were held by Republicans. The general election saw neither party gain nor lose any seats, thereby meaning that Democrats retained their majority in the State Senate.^[1][2]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[3]	Tossup	October 24, 2012

Retirements

Democrats

1. District 3: Valerie Wiener was term-limited.
2. District 4: Steven Horsford retired to successfully run for Nevada's 4th congressional district.
3. District 5: Shirley Breeden retired.
4. District 6: Allison Copening retired.
5. District 11: Michael A. Schneider was term-limited.

Republicans

1. District 18: Mike McGinness was term-limited.
2. District 19: Dean Rhoads was term-limited.

Incumbents defeated

In primary

Democrats

1. District 1: John Lee lost renomination to Patricia Spearman.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 15, 0.46%
2. District 9, 0.70% (gain)
3. District 6, 1.66% (gain)
4. District 18, 2.76%
5. District 5, 3.92%

Results

District 1

District 1 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patricia Spearman (incumbent)	29,026	68.71%
	Independent American	Gregory Hughes	13,221	31.29%
Total votes			42,247	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 3

District 3 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Segerblom	21,745	64.38%
	Republican	Ed Gobel	12,032	35.62%
Total votes			33,777	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 4

District 4 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kelvin Atkinson	27,422	79.79%
	Republican	Linda West Myers	6,946	20.21%
Total votes			34,368	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 5

District 5 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Woodhouse	26,520	51.96%
	Republican	Steve Kirk	24,524	48.04%
Total votes			51,044	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 6

District 6 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Hutchison	27,499	50.83%
	Democratic	Benny Yerushalmi	26,598	49.17%
Total votes			54,097	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 7

District 7 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Parks (incumbent)	25,567	64.15%
	Republican	Trish Marsh	14,285	35.85%
Total votes			39,852	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 9

District 9 special election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Justin Jones	21,849	50.35%
	Republican	Mari Nakashima St. Martin	21,548	49.65%
Total votes			43,397	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 11

District 11 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Aaron Ford	22,188	62.25%
	Republican	John Drake	13,453	37.75%
Total votes			35,641	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 13

District 13 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Debbie Smith	25,975	64.73%
	Republican	Kathy Martin	14,151	35.27%
Total votes			40,126	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 15

District 15 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Brower (incumbent)	29,352	50.23%
	Democratic	Sheila Leslie	29,086	49.77%
Total votes			58,438	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 18

District 18 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Hammond	27,364	51.38%
	Democratic	Kelli Ross	25,893	48.62%
Total votes			53,257	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 19

District 19 election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Goicoechea	25,287	56.97%
	Democratic	Harley Z. Kulkin	10,427	23.49%
	Independent American	Janine Hansen	8,675	19.54%
Total votes			44,389	100.0%
	Republican hold

References

1. "Nevada State Senate elections, 2012". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
2. "Nevada State Senate". nvsos.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
3. Daigneau, Elizabeth; Jacobson, Louis (October 24, 2012). "The Latest Chamber-by-Chamber Analysis of the 2012 State Legislative Elections". Governing. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2025.