Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Gilbert still refusing to concede GOP primary for Nevada governor

Joey Gilbert Bus Tour

Wade Vandervort

Nevada Republican gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert speaks to guests during a bus tour throughout Las Vegas Monday, May 16, 2022. WADE VANDERVORT

Reno attorney Joey Gilbert has no plans to concede the GOP primary race for Nevada governor and is promoting a $25,000 reward for anyone who can provide proof of election fraud.

Gilbert said he had been working on getting a recount and plans to formally contest the election in court. Nevada’s secretary of state told county clerks Wednesday to begin conducting the recount this week, at a cost of $190,960 to Gilbert.

“A lot of people know that there was some games, and some tomfoolery, some ballyhoo, some shenanigans in our elections,” Gilbert said Tuesday during a Facebook livestream with supporters.

Gilbert lost to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo by about 26,000 votes in the Republican gubernatorial primary on June 14.

He quickly took to Facebook on election night claiming fraud.

“Maybe the establishment and swamp rats forgot who they’re dealing with. I smell a lawsuit because this STINKS,” Gilbert wrote as the results were coming in on election night.

Since then, Gilbert has been working with Robert Beadles, a cryptocurrency educator who has been promoting election fraud claims since the 2020 presidential election through Operation Sunlight.

They are offering a $25,000 reward for anyone who can provide evidence of election fraud, Gilbert said.

Beadles called last month’s Nevada primary election “incompetent,” saying it took place in a “banana republic-type setting.”

He pointed to no chain of custody for ballots and the insecurity of voting machines as evidence the election was stolen, adding that the numbers were “highly manipulated.”

“We’ve already been able to prove that Joey won his race,” said Beadles, who has not yet released any of the alleged proof.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office has assured voters that voting machines are secure.

Similar fraud claims made on behalf of former President Donald Trump after he lost his reelection bid have been dismissed by multiple judges in Nevada and elsewhere.

Beadles said he doesn’t expect a recount would show any different results but it would “buy us time to put other things in place.” He did not explain what other things he was talking about.

Gilbert said he does not think he lost Washoe, Douglas and Nye counties.

Lombardo won Washoe by 308 votes, Douglas by 202 votes and Nye by 846 votes, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.

Lombardo’s campaign spokeswoman Elizabeth Ray declined to comment.

On election night, Lombardo called Gilbert’s claims of fraud “unfortunate.”