Incumbent Barbara Cegavske (R) defeated Nelson Araujo (D) in the 2018 general election for Nevada Secretary of State.

In the previous five presidential elections, Nevada was won by the Democratic candidate in 2008, 2012, and 2016 and by the Republican candidate in 2000 and 2004. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's (D) 13 percent margin in 2008. The narrowest was Hillary Clinton's (D) two percent margin in 2016.

Governing rated the seat a toss-up, saying, "This race will tilt depending on the strength of a possible blue wave."

The election also occurred alongside a competitive gubernatorial election between Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak (D) and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R) to replace term-limited Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and a competitive U.S. Senate election between incumbent Dean Heller (R) and U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D).

Polls

Nevada secretary of state election, 2018

Poll	Poll sponsor	Araujo	Cegavske	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
Gravis Marketing September 11-12, 2018	N/A	40%	40%	20%	+/-3.7	700
Mellman Group April 12-19, 2018	Ralston Reports	36%	31%	33%	+/-4.0	600
AVERAGES		38%	35.5%	26.5%	+/-3.85	650

Race ratings

Governing rated this race a Toss-up in June 2018. Louis Jacobson of Governing wrote, "This race will tilt depending on the strength of a possible blue wave. Cegavske is expected to face Democratic state Assemblyman Nelson Araujo. Polling shows Araujo slightly ahead, but it's premature to call this anything but a tossup."

Campaign ads

Nelson Araujo

Support

"The Nevada Way" - Araujo ad, released May 14, 2018 Election history 2014 Secretary of State of Nevada, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes Republican Barbara Cegavske 50.4% 273,720 Democratic Kate Marshall 46.1% 250,612 Independent None of these candidates 3.5% 18,778 Total Votes 543,110 Election results via Nevada Secretary of State 2010 Attorney General of Nevada, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes Democratic Catherine Cortez Masto Incumbent 52.8% 372,011 Republican Travis Barrick 35.7% 251,269 American Independent Joel F. Hansen 7.8% 54,980 Nonpartisan None of these candidates 3.7% 26,072 Total Votes 704,332 Election results via Nevada Secretary of State Demographics Demographic data for Nevada Nevada U.S. Total population: 2,883,758 316,515,021 Land area (sq mi): 109,781 3,531,905 Gender Female: 49.7% 50.8% Race and ethnicity** White: 69% 73.6% Black/African American: 8.4% 12.6% Asian: 7.7% 5.1% Native American: 1.1% 0.8% Pacific Islander: 0.6% 0.2% Two or more: 4.4% 3% Hispanic/Latino: 27.5% 17.1% Education High school graduation rate: 85.1% 86.7% College graduation rate: 23% 29.8% Income Median household income: $51,847 $53,889 Persons below poverty level: 17.8% 11.3% Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nevada. As of July 2016, Nevada' three largest cities were Las Vegas (pop. est. 640,000), Henderson (pop. est. 300,000), and Reno (pop. est. 250,000).