HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Judge John Davis, at left, easily won the primary for the 5th District, Department 1, judgeship over rivals, at right, Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett and Assistant DA Marla Zlotek. Davis and Zlotek will face off in the November general election. Advertisement

As primary season came to a close Tuesday night, it was clear that some high-profile drama had made its way to the polls, namely in the routing of district court judge candidate Bob Beckett.

Beckett, who was arrested in June on DUI charges, received only 838 votes, or 14 percent, compared to 3,190 (54 percent) for incumbent John Davis and 1,908 (32 percent) for fellow challenger Marla Zlotek.

Also in Nye County, Lorinda Wichman garnered 311 votes (46 percent) in the Republican race for District I county commissioner and will face off with Rob Mobley, who received 148 votes, in November.

Incumbent County Commissioner Gary Hollis received 344 votes, a solid 56 percent of the total votes cast for District III.

He will run against Harley Kulkin, the only Democratic candidate, in the general election.

The large field of candidates for the new justice of the peace seat has been narrowed down to two: Linda DeMeo, who garnered 1,042 votes (nearly 22 percent) and Kent Jasperson, who received 969 votes (20 percent).

The general election ballot for the Nye County School District Board will include several familiar names. J.E. "Doc" McNeely, the appointed representative for Area II, received 464 votes (54 percent).

Incumbent Area VI trustee Harold Tokerud received 497 votes, for a total of 67 percent.

The candidates for Areas IV and V, Tracie Ward and Kevin Pape, ran uncontested.

In the race for the Beatty Water and Sanitation District, William Marchand, with 122 votes (24 percent), Leslie Parsons, with 120 votes (24 percent), and Bob Revert, with 109 votes (22 percent) emerged victorious.

In the race for the Pahrump Town Board, a field of nine candidates was dropped to four. Two four-year seats are open.

Going to the general election will be Don Rust, with 1,349 votes (16 percent), Mike Darby, with 1,269 (15 percent), Vicky Parker, with 1,213 (14 percent) and Sean Brooks, with 932 (11 percent).

The Tonopah Town Board race has, in effect, already been won, since a limited number of candidates filed for the three available seats.

Horace H. Carlyle and Jon W. Zane threw their hats into the ring and were joined by incumbent Chairman Cindy Kaminski.

That makes three candidates for the three open seats.

Kaminski, however, can no longer run for re-election due to the recent Nevada Supreme Court decision upholding term limits of 12 years.

As a result, someone will be appointed to Kaminski's seat in January, and Carlyle and Zane will automatically win their respective races.

A similar situation exists for the Round Mountain Town Board race, in which Johnny L. Archuleta, Joy H. Hawkins and Lisa Schwarz are the only three candidates for three open seats.

All three will take their places as board members come January.

On the state level, Republican incumbent Dean Heller captured 2,346 votes for the District 2 congressional seat, thus claiming a solid lead over James Smack, who received 548 votes.

Mary "Kris" Pickering won the race for Nevada Supreme Court Justice Seat "B" with 1,718 votes. The second highest vote-getter was the "none of these candidates" option, with 670 votes, closely followed by the contender, Deborah Schumacher, who captured 648 votes.

In spite of the fact that Nye County has 22,435 registered voters, only 6,021 (26.8 percent) showed up to vote in the primary.

Of the voters who exercised their civic duty, Republicans dominated the election with 3,021 party members casting their vote.

They were followed by a strong showing of 2,248 Democrats.

The last block included 752 nonpartisan voters.

Statewide, voters abstained by a landslide in this year's primary election.

With most ballots counted, turnout was expected to easily set a record low for a primary, despite two weeks of early voting and 12 hours of open polls Tuesday.

Three House races, a post on the state Supreme Court and 25 legislative primaries failed to attract many of the state's 1.3 million eligible voters.

Unofficial returns looked roughly on par with earlier estimates of 15 percent turnout -- well below the previous low set in 2000 when 23 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

In Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, turnout was just under 14.8 percent, according to the county election department. With 100 percent of precincts counted, officials reported fewer than 103,000 of the county's nearly 700,000 registered voters went to the polls.

About 20 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the Reno area, according to Washoe County Registrar of Voters election results.

Turnout was 22.1 percent in Elko County, in the northeastern part of the state, according to the Nevada Secretary of State.

State records dating back to 1950 show primary turnouts falling below 30 percent just four times, in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004.

Voters on Tuesday blamed empty polling places on hot weather, a bad economy and more interest in the November general election.

"People maybe don't care so much. I hate to use that word but it may be true," said Todd Bowles, 30, after casting his vote at a Las Vegas middle school minutes before the polls closed Tuesday. "There's too much focus on the general election and not on these little ones we have."

Thomas Glasper, a 52-year-old volunteer who directed Bowles to the polls, blamed hot weather and gas prices.

"The way the economy is right now, people are looking at it like 'You think they're going to make a change?'" Glasper said. "The resources are not there for anybody to make a change."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio blamed the low turnout in part on the early date of the primary that traditionally had been held in Nevada after Labor Day.

"A lot of people are gone or out of town. A lot of people don't realize that," he said.

Officials have expressed disappointment with far better numbers.

In 1996, then Secretary of State Dean Heller called turnout disgraceful when 31 percent of voters decided three U.S. House primaries; endorsed one big bond issue and rejected another; and ousted two incumbents in legislative contests. He had been hoping for 45 percent turnout in that primary.

In 1980, Secretary of State Bill Swackhamer cited "a lack of interest" in predicting that no more than half of eligible voters would go to the polls in the presidential primary.

Before 1996, primary turnout had never fallen below 37 percent, and was consistently well above 40 percent as long as records were kept.

Campaign officials were on hand in Pahrump to help voters navigate the booths at polling places.

Husband and wife team Bridgette and Dieter Goerke worked together at J.G. Johnson Elementary School.

Originally from Germany, the couple said they became part of the process after earning U.S. citizenship. "Voting is important for us and especially since we're from somewhere else," Bridgette Goerke said. "We became citizens here, so I think it's twice as important."

Fellow election worker Jacquie Freeman said she's been volunteering at the polls for 46 years.

To Freeman, assisting in the democratic process is a family tradition.

"I'm very proud to be a third-generation election worker," said Freeman, whose grandmother and mother volunteered in Fallon and Yerrington, respectively.

"This -- the election day -- is a very important day for me."

Like Freeman, voter Inez Allison's family taught her the importance of civic participation.

"My mother raised me and said, 'You register to vote and you vote,' " said Allison, who now passes on that same advice to her own children.

Allison has a long history of political activity. In Chicago, she was involved in campaigns and made sure to be an informed voter.

"Here, it's different," Allison added. "They're not knocking on your doors all the time like they are in Chicago."

Fellow voter Mildred Bell attributes her relatively new enthusiasm for the electoral process to small-town living.

Bell said she didn't become a regular voter until moving to Pahrump 15 years ago.

"In a big city, it's easy to just think it'll take care of itself," she said.

Anne Bosquet, working out of J.G. Johnson this year, said she looks at her election efforts as an extension of the service she and her husband gave their country over 60 years ago.

"I do it because my husband is a World War II veteran and he paid for serving all of his life," said Bousquet, who was in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict.

"When people say 'I didn't vote,' I just think, 'Gosh, something like a million people died for our right to vote,'" she added.

A few voters at J.G. Johnson Elementary were disappointed with what they saw as a low voter turnout.

"It ought to be a law, frankly," said Carole Crockett. "You have to vote or you get penalized."

Crockett's husband, John, spent much of his life as a career military man and said his views on the electoral process were largely shaped by his experiences abroad.

Voting is a right the American people should take seriously, he said.

Fellow voter Kirk Sowash had similar views.

"People fight for that right and we've got kids in Iraq dying right now for that right," he said. "Just take that right away and see how long people are content."

John Rohrig, another J.G. Johnson voter, went to the polls around 2 p.m. He hoped more voters would show up later in the day, after work.

"To use the old cliche, if you don't vote, you can't complain," he said. "As a citizen, it's the least we can do. When you think of all the countries where you can die if you vote for the wrong person, we've got kind of a spoiled system."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.