Fiore trails in Pahrump justice of the peace race early returns

Michele Fiore’s attempt to keep a Pahrump justice of the peace seat had already become a test of public trust in Nye County courts before the first vote totals were posted. The race drew unusual attention because Fiore was running for reelection while suspended from the bench, after a federal jury found her guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy charges and President Donald Trump pardoned her in April 2025.

Early returns showed that baggage mattered. As of 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, Michael Foley was leading with 40.7 percent of the vote, Scott Oakley was second with 26.5 percent, Fiore was third with 23 percent and Richard Hamilton had 9.7 percent. The numbers were still early and no winner had been declared, but the first count put Fiore in a difficult position in a race that had become one of the most closely watched contests in the county.

The justice court seat carries more than symbolic weight in Pahrump. A justice of the peace is one of the most visible court officials residents encounter, handling the day-to-day machinery of local justice, from routine case management to decisions that shape how disputes and lower-level criminal matters move through the system. That makes the seat central to questions of courtroom leadership, case handling and whether the public sees the bench as a place of steady administration or political turbulence.

Fiore’s candidacy put those questions front and center. Voters were not just choosing among candidates and party labels. They were being asked to decide whether a suspended judge with a criminal conviction, later wiped away by a presidential pardon, should remain in one of the county’s most public-facing judicial posts. The early numbers suggested that challengers were better positioned to capitalize on that scrutiny than Fiore was to overcome it.

The race also stood out because it was being watched alongside the rest of Nye County’s primary contests, where early results were already beginning to shape the county’s political balance. Even in the first count, Foley and Oakley were ahead of Fiore, a sign that the contest was evolving into a referendum on judicial accountability as much as a fight for a seat in Pahrump.