Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Former Harry Reid staffer running for Nevada secretary of state

CARSON CITY — Cisco Aguilar, a Las Vegas attorney and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, has announced he will run for the Democratic nomination for Nevada secretary of state.

Aguilar is the first Democrat to file to run, joining Republicans Jim Marchant, a former state assemblyman and 2020 congressional candidate, and Kristopher Dahir, a Sparks city councilman, in the effort to replace termed-out incumbent Barbara Cegavske.

Cegavske is Nevada’s lone statewide elected Republican, though she has been the target of criticism from the state party in recent months. Cegavske came under fire from some Republicans in the aftermath of the 2020 election when she did not validate conspiratorial claims of voter fraud.

Aguilar’s website includes endorsements from retired tennis professional Andre Agassi, Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall and Clark County Commissioner and former Secretary of State Ross Miller.

“More than ever, we need to defend every eligible American’s right to vote, remove barriers to voter participation and make our elections as transparent as possible to maintain the public trust,” Aguilar’s website says. “But there are individuals and groups who are determined to take us backwards making it harder to vote, creating barriers to register and subverting public confidence in our elections.”

The primary will be June 14, 2022, and the general election will be Nov. 8, 2022.