Democrat defeats GOP election denier in Nevada secretary of state race

Democrat Cisco Aguilar is projected win his election to be Nevada’s secretary of state, defeating Republican Jim Marchant, who has refused to recognize President Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election. 

Aguilar won about 49 percent of the vote to Marchant’s 47 percent with 96 percent of votes counted, as of Saturday night. 

The secretary of state position is in charge of overseeing a state’s elections, so the winner of the race will oversee the 2024 presidential election in Nevada. 

Aguilar received a cross-party endorsement from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) last month as part of a slew of endorsements Kinzinger made for candidates running against opponents who denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election. 

Some polls leading up to Election Day had showed Marchant in the lead, but with many voters still undecided.