Reno, Nev. – Jack Carter, the son of former President Jimmy Carter, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday to face Republican U.S. Sen. John Ensign in November in Nevada, where voters also picked candidates in a sometimes zany pair of primaries to replace popular Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn.
Carter claimed 80 percent of the vote in early returns to defeat political unknown Ruby Jee Tun of Carson City, a middle-school science teacher. Ensign won with more than 90 percent of the vote over Ed “Fast Eddie” Hamilton of Las Vegas, a former Chrysler Corp. supervisor.
Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus and Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons each won their party’s nominations to replace Guinn.
Tessa Hafen, former press secretary for Nevada’s other senator, Democratic leader Harry Reid, won her party’s nomination to face incumbent Republican Rep. Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District.
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley cruised to victory in the 1st District, where three candidates were vying in the GOP primary.
Guinn, who is leaving office after eight years because of term limits, did not groom a hand-picked successor, locking candidates from both parties in brutal primary contests that included offbeat personal attacks using sock puppets, “Star Wars” parodies and Internet close-ups of an elephant’s behind.
Gibbons managed to hold off Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and state Sen. Bob Beers of Las Vegas.
On the Democratic ballot, Titus beat Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson.
Longshots in that race included a former porn star, Melody Damayo, who performed under the name Mimi Miyagi.
