Associated Press
Wednesday, August 16, 2006

RENO, Nev., Aug. 15 -- Jack Carter, the son of former president Jimmy Carter, won the Democratic senatorial nomination Tuesday and will face Republican incumbent John Ensign in November. Also in Nevada, voters picked candidates in two wide-open and sometimes zany primaries to replace Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn.

With 64 percent of precincts reporting, Carter claimed 78.6 percent of the vote to defeat middle school teacher Ruby Jee Tun. Ensign had won more than 90 percent of the vote over Ed "Fast Eddie" Hamilton of Las Vegas, with 68 percent of precincts reporting.

Guinn is leaving office after eight years because of term limits. He did not groom a successor, and candidates in both parties participated in brutal primary campaigning that included offbeat personal attacks using sock puppets, "Star Wars" parodies and Internet close-ups of an elephant's behind.

State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus won the Democratic nomination and Rep. Jim Gibbons prevailed in the GOP primary.

Gibbons held off Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and state Sen. Bob Beers. With nearly two-thirds of votes counted, Titus was leading Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson by 54 percent to 36 percent.

Tessa Hafen, former press secretary for Nevada's other senator, Democratic leader Harry M. Reid, won her party's nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. She will face incumbent Jon Porter (R).

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) cruised to victory in the 1st District, where three candidates were vying in the GOP primary.