MARK WAITE / PVT Nevada District 36 Republican Assemblyman nominee Ed Goedhart chats with Nye County Commission District IV Republican nominee Andrew "Butch" Borasky about after election returns came in Tuesday night. Advertisement

Nevada Assembly District 36 candidate Ed Goedhart, manager of the Ponderosa Dairy in Amargosa Valley, breezed to an easy win in the Repulican Primary Tuesday, taking 56.5 percent of the vote in a five-county race.

But Democratic challenger Laurayne Murray won a nail-biter, losing to Harley Kulkin in Nye County by 16 votes.

Murray, however, trounced Kulkin in Mineral, Esmeralda, Churchill and Lincoln counties to win the right to meet Goedhart in the general election.

Andrew "Butch" Borasky, owner of an excavating business in Pahrump for the past 10 years, defeated four other candidates in the Republican primary for Nye County Commissioner of District IV. Borasky polled 328 votes for 41.7 percent of the total; Alan Bigelow was second with 143 votes, 18 percent of the ballots.

Borasky will face Democrat Charlie Anzalone in the Nov. 7 general election.

Peter Liakopoulos edged out Pat Garlough by only 13 votes, 405 votes to 392, to win the Republican primary for Nye County Commission District V.

Liakopoulos will face Democrat Jan Bearss and independent Dan Schinhofen in the Nov. 7 general election.

Byron Foster defeated two other Pahrump candidates, Janette Scheller and Eugenie "Genie" Walker, to win the Republican primary for Nye County recorder. He will face Democrat Theresa Pate of Tonopah in the general election.

Incumbent Pahrump Justice of the Peace Tina Brisebill won 43 percent of the vote in her primary race. Her nearest challenger and opponent in the Nov. 7 general election will be 25-year Nye County Sheriff's Office veteran Kent Jasperson, who won 18.19 percent.

Bob Jones upset first-term incumbent Murray Loomis in the Nye County public administrator race, capturing 59 percent of the vote.

In the only contested Nye County School Board race, Mike Floyd and incumbent Debbie Wescoatt will go on to the Nov. 7 general election. Floyd, partner in a family construction business, finished well ahead of Wescoatt, with 53.2 percent of the vote to Wescoatt's 29.6 percent.

Goedhart, who formerly served on the Southern Nye County Conservation District and the Science and Technology Regional Development Corporation, said of his decisive win, "It's going to give me some good momentum going into the general election."

Goedhart said he'll take a week off, then hit the campaign trail hard.

"Whatever the numbers show, that's secondary to us. We want to go out and make that personal connection with as many voters as we can," he said.

On the Democratic side, Kulkin expressed some sour grapes over his loss to Murray because of the vote in the outlying counties where he didn't have the resources to campaign. Kulkin said he visited the Hawthorne Senior Center and went to a parade there. He also attended a parade in Lincoln County.

Kulkin was irate that the Democratic Party was supporting his opponent Murray. "All of the people that supported me, please support Ed Goedhart," Kulkin said.

"Laurayne was able to do a lot of hand-on-hand contact arranged by the Democratic state party and they totally ignored me," Kulkin said. But he added, "I want to thank the Nye County people for supporting me, they haven't heard the last of me."

Murray said she was confident of winning the primary after the results came in from the other counties. She knew the vote in Pahrump, where 78 percent of the voters in the district live, would be close.

"I always said Las Vegas isn't all there is to Nevada and Pahrump isn't all there is to District 36," Murray said. "Everybody has to have representation. I spent part of my first six months campaigning in the other parts of the district.

"This is my home, this is where I am on the town board, but the rurals have to stick together when it comes to the legislature," Murray said, who is finishing her first term on the Pahrump Town Board.

Murray said the Democratic party has to remain neutral, but state legislators can support a candidate. Murray said she will benefit from that close relationship if she wins the assembly race.

"I think this illustrates everybody's vote counts," Liakopoulos, the Nye County District V Republican nominee, said of his race, "I spent almost $50,000 and won by 13 votes."

He said his victory margin translated to less than 2.5 votes per precinct.

"We can't take anything for granted. I ran a campaign that a lot of people advised against. But with me, what you see is what you get. There's not going to be any surprises when I take office," Liakopoulos said.

Looking ahead to November, Liakopoulos said, "I'm going to run an aggressive campaign. I'm going to get out there and stick with the issues."

While he complained the Republican Party didn't support him in the primary, Liakopoulos, who has a TV show in Pahrump, said, "I think being Republican has a huge advantage in Nye County."

The defeated candidate, Garlough, said, "I was a little over-optimistic. I really thought that I would win this race." She said Liakopoulos may have appealed to senior citizens with his plan to defer their taxes, but that would put a burden on young families.

Garlough said, "When he first began, he was against zoning and impact fees, and I believe that they're both necessary."

Garlough said she won't support her fellow Republican in the November race. The two pursued a virulent campaign, with Liakopoulos blasting Garlough for her close relationship with current District V County Commissioner Patricia Cox.

"I don't believe in his values, even though I'm a very strong Republican. I still have to respect the person that's put into office," she said.

In Nye County Commission District IV, Republican nominee Borasky said, "The main thing is, I stayed positive. I stand by my platform and what I will do. The biggest issues are still the lack of water and the density of the subdivisions and what they're going to do to the valley."

Borasky said he met his Democratic opponent, Anzalone, and plans a clean campaign.

He said he didn't think his position on the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission cost him any votes. He said he brought harmony to the RPC. Borasky said he hopes the Nye County commissioners appoint him as their representaitve to the RPC, if he wins election in November.

Borasky added he has someone to help run his excavating business should he win the election. Then he could devote more time to being a commissioner.

Borasky said he had some criticism late in the campaign from District Four candidate Andrew "Andy" Alberti Jr. over a contribution of $1,600 from Michael Lach, who owns a lot of property in the Pahrump Valley. Borasky received considerable donations from builders and engineers in Pahrump Valley.

"They're not going to influence me for $1,500 or $1 million," Borasky said.

In the statewide and federal races, Nye County Democrats favored Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus for governor over Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson 60 percent to 36 percent. The Democrats went big for Jack Carter for U.S. Senate, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's son, over Carson City Middle School teacher Ruby Jee Tun, 72 percent to 9 percent. They picked Ross Miller, son of former Governor Bob Miller, for secretary of state, 48 percent to 24 percent. Kate Marshall won over Geoffrey Vanderpal in the race for State Treasurer in Nye County, 57 percent to 22 percent.

Nye County Republicans handed incumbent U.S. Sen. John Ensign an overwhelming victory over challenger Edward "Fast Eddie" Hamilton, 78 percent to 5 percent. They chose U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons as their nominee for governor over State Senator Bob Beers, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, Stanleigh Harold Lusak and former porn star Melody "Mimi Miyagi." Gibbons received 39 percent of the Nye County vote, eclipsing Beers' 35 percent; Hunt finished third with 19 percent; Miyagi and Lusak had 1.5 percent apiece.

State Treasurer Brian Krolicki won the primary vote for lieutenant governor among Nye County voters, garnering 30 percent, Barbara Lee Woolen collected 26.5 percent, former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren won 22 percent. Danny Tarkanian defeated Brian Scroggins in the Republican Secretary of State primary in Nye County, 52 percent to 35 percent. Mark DeStefano was picked by county Republicans for state treasurer, with 35 percent, the late Kathy Augustine still polled 26 percent of the vote, 16 percent voted for Joseph Pitts.