Results of our Reno Mayor Race Polling and Why We Believe Election Reporting Matters

Local voters have started mailing in their ballots, which can be postmarked up to election day June 14th and received four days after. This means final results in close races might take a while.

We haven’t seen any polling, so we decided to do our own informal surveys via our Instagram and Twitter channels.

Incumbent Mayor Hillary Schieve is the favorite to finish first in the primary according to our own polls (51% on Twitter, 41% on Instagram), followed by Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus (27% on Twitter, 33% on Instagram), with a dark horse candidate at 19% (both Twitter and Instagram), and businessman Eddie Lorton at 2% and 7%.

Who would Mayor Schieve hypothetically face off against in November? Our social media polling indicates a possible showdown against Brekhus (who got 44% odds of finishing second on our Instagram, and 50 % on our Twitter). Dark horse candidates got second best odds on Twitter at 30%, whereas Instagram had Schieve most likely to be second at 33% and Lorton at 14%, ahead of any other candidate.

This gives just one indication, as ultimately, hopefully, it’s a free and fair election, and the voters decide.

While we understand our political system is heavily dominated by corporate interests and the ability to access deep pockets over ideas and actual change, we still believe elections matter and so does election reporting.

Locally many races are non partisan which takes out party politics and the dominance of our two suffocating parties. There are also many positions which do have direct impact on our livelihoods, from how judges treat the community, to the local school board and our children’s future, and how council members view the handling of growth, budgetary priorities, housing ideas and participatory transparency (or lack of) in local governance, to name just a few.

Candidates represent different views and different demographics. As several candidates point out, “representation also matters.” Not voting also matters, to show dissatisfaction with the entire system, and a feeling of rejection or hopelessness. We understand that but we are also driven in our local reporting by clinging to the hope that voting for the right person at the right time for the right position can also make a difference the entire community can benefit from.

Some candidates need to run several times before winning. Other candidates don’t win but inspire others to do so in future cycles. Running can seem like a combination of a vanity project and projecting wanting to do good in a position of power, but somewhere, somehow we wish for selfless, hard working, humble, honest and effective candidates.

Going All in With Election Stories This Week and Dress Decorum Gate

In that light, we decided to do one week going all in with election reporting, even if these stories don’t always get the best traction on our social media.

One report went into school board elections and the opposition of incumbents vs. Operation Sunlight-backed candidates.

Another report looked at the escalating battle of flyers between two Democrats vying for Assembly seat 27.

A third profiled a Reno judicial position candidate, after we had profiled one of his opponents: https://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2022/3/29/cotter-c-conway-a-believer-in-rehabilitation-running-for-reno-justice-of-the-peace

Our podcast is with an underdog mayoral candidate who was recently sleeping at the Cares Campus.

Our most commented social media post recently was about dress decorum gate over at City Council involving Gerry “the Pizza Man” who indicated he wants to run for Oscar Delgado’s council seat in the next cycle (and probably won’t get the endorsement of Devon Reese, at least sartorially).