Nevada Democrats select 'none of these candidates' in gubernatorial primary

Many Nevada Democrats turned up their noses Tuesday at the eight candidates battling for the right to face Gov. Brian Sandoval in November, with the "none of these candidates" option receiving the most votes.

With 80 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, the "none of these candidates option" had received over 20,000 votes (30 percent), putting it over 3,600 votes ahead of the man who will face Sandoval in November, former State Economic Development commissioner Robert Goodman. Goodman received 25 percent of the vote.

The only other candidate to receive a double-digit percentage of the vote was Stephen Frye (11 percent), who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2012.

Nevada allows its voters to select "none of these" candidates in elections for President and statewide offices. The last time the option received the most votes was in 1976, when Republicans preferred it to both candidates running in a primary for the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Sandoval, Nevada's first Hispanic governor, rolled to victory over four challengers with 90 percent of the vote and is expected to easily defeat Goodman to win a second term.

Two other states, Maine and South Carolina, also held gubernatorial primaries Tuesday. In Maine, Republican Gov. Paul LePage secured re-nomination unopposed and will face Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler, whom LePage beat in 2010 to become the state's first Republican governor in 16 years.

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley also ran unopposed for re-nomination and will face similarly unchallenged state Sen. Vincent Sheheen in a rematch of the 2010 election.