The Nevada Secretary of State’s office confirmed Friday afternoon that all 17 counties have completed their recounts. Although officials did not release or comment on the unofficial results, Clark and Washoe counties confirmed that Lombardo beat Gilbert, who paid for the recount despite trailing by 11 percentage points after the June 14 vote. Clark and Washoe counties account for 75% of the ballots cast in the Nevada Republican primary for governor. Gilbert, who was outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, ran on a platform shaped in part by unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and claims that election officials failed to properly verify signatures or track the ballots and that the votes for Lombardo “contributed”. in the system. He has not provided any evidence for these claims. He said he did not expect the results to change much, but requested the recount to later challenge the election results in court. He has the help of right-wing activist and crypto-entrepreneur Robert Beadles, who unsuccessfully sued Nevada and the state’s second most populous county seeking increased monitoring of county elections. “All they’re doing is using the same stale and cooked ballots, putting them in the same, broken machines,” Gilbert said in a video shot Thursday outside the Clark County election precinct. “So, do I expect much to come of this? No. But it’s part of the process.” The June 14 contest in Nevada proved largely successful for Trump-endorsed candidates and those who called the 2020 election rigged. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt co-chaired Trump’s Nevada re-election campaign and led unsuccessful court calls to overturn the state’s 2020 election results based on false allegations of voter fraud. Secretary of State nominee Jim Marchand told voters at a candidate forum in February that their vote “hasn’t counted in decades.” The story continues Despite running in his own race, Gilbert congratulated Laxalt and Marchant on their wins, which were on the same ballot. Gilbert’s group paid $190,960 to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office Friday afternoon before the 5 p.m. deadline, a total based on the estimated costs submitted by each of Nevada’s 17 counties. “We’ve all been preparing for this,” Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino said after submitting a cost estimate last Wednesday. “We all had the feeling that there was going to be an election showdown or a recount.” For Republicans, Gilbert’s apparent rejection of the results reflects mounting challenges two years after many in the party embraced debunking allegations of voter fraud. Party leaders want to encourage voter turnout while appealing to the tens of thousands who supported Gilbert and distrust the election. The day after the election, state GOP Chairman Michael McDonald — who rejected the 2020 election results — chided Gilbert and said it was time to unite behind Lombardo in a rare case of far-right criticism of the state party. “The elections are over. Has been named. Joe Lombardo won. We have to come together and unite,” he said, calling Gilbert’s reaction “emotional.” Unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud have already had ramifications in Nevada. Dozens of angry voters last week urged county commissioners in Clark and Washoe counties to vote against certifying the counts, describing their own experiences at the polls and echoing conspiracy theories that nearly derailed certification in New Mexico earlier this month. Last week, two county commissioners in Esmeralda County conducted a hand count of all 317 ballots cast after the commission delayed initial certification by one day. However, all counties certified the election by Friday’s deadline. __ Stern is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow Stern on Twitter @gabesten326
