Judge Michelle Leavitt seeks a fifth term on the Clark County bench against public defender Dan Gilliam

What happened

Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt is running for a fifth term in Department 12, and Clark County public defender Dan Gilliam is challenging her, the Nevada Current reported. Leavitt hears both criminal and civil cases.

The Nevada Current article spells the challenger's last name several ways. This brief uses Gilliam, the spelling of the law firm he founded. Neither candidate responded to the outlet's interview requests, so its reporting draws on earlier interviews with Our Nevada Judges and Vegas Legal Magazine, financial disclosures and campaign websites.

Who is running for Department 12

Michelle Leavitt

Former Gov. Kenny Guinn appointed Leavitt to Department 12 in 2002, and she has held the seat for more than two decades. Before that, the Las Vegas City Council appointed her to fill a Municipal Court vacancy, and she was re-elected to that court twice.

Leavitt told Our Nevada Judges she typically handles the most serious criminal offenses, including homicide. The Nevada Current noted her most recent high-profile homicide case involved the 2022 killing of local journalist Jeff German.

She serves on the Criminal Task Force of the Judicial Assessment Commission, the Education Commission of the Nevada Judges Association and the Supreme Court's Mandatory Sentencing Review Commission. She also told Our Nevada Judges she regularly volunteers for overflow cases and has helped municipal courts set up misdemeanor jury trials.

Dan Gilliam

Gilliam earned an undergraduate degree in education from Ohio State University in 1996 and his law degree in 2004. He worked in the Clark County Public Defender's office from 2005 to 2007, then became an assistant city attorney for Henderson, working mostly on misdemeanors. He told Vegas Legal Magazine he also helped train Henderson Police Department recruits on search and seizure law and probable cause.

He left Henderson in 2014 to open the Gilliam Law Group, which merged with Bighorn Law in 2018, where the Current reported he handles criminal defense cases. The outlet also reported he has worked in the public defender's office since 2021. In 2020 he ran for Department 24 and advanced past the primary but lost in the general election.

Gilliam was involved with the Clark County Law Foundation's Trial By Peers program, in which first-time juvenile offenders charged with misdemeanors were tried, defended and sentenced by their peers. State law shifted that teen court model to a restorative justice model in 2021.

Ratings and track record

According to Our Nevada Judges, Leavitt's error rate, meaning the share of her decisions that were overturned, is 39.24% in civil cases and 12.47% in criminal cases. In the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Judging the Judges 2025 survey, 74.2% of participating attorneys said she should stay on the bench.

Money and endorsements

Fundraising

As of July, Gilliam reported $15,000 in contributions and $6,200 on hand, according to financial disclosures cited by the Current. His largest contributors were his own law firm and Jacqueline Bretell, who shares the firm's address, each giving the maximum $10,000.

For the same period, Leavitt reported raising more than $91,000 and had roughly $131,000 on hand. Her largest donors, each at $10,000, were the Hutchinson & Steffen law firm, the Eglet Adams law firm, the Sahara Center and John Sou, senior vice president and general manager of Boyd Gaming.

Endorsements

Leavitt has endorsements from unions including SEIU Local 1107, Bartenders Local 165 and Culinary Workers Union Local 226. Law enforcement groups backing her include the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, the Washoe County Sheriff Deputies Association and the Las Vegas Peace Officers Association. Gilliam did not list any endorsements on his campaign website, the Current reported.

What the candidates say

Gilliam's campaign website lists equal justice for all, accessibility to justice, and transparency and efficiency as his main priorities. Leavitt told Our Nevada Judges her long career has given her experience across civil, criminal and water law, and she stressed moving cases through the courts in a timely way while protecting defendants' constitutional rights. More race coverage is on our Nevada elections page.

What to watch next

• Whether Leavitt keeps the Department 12 seat for a fifth term or Gilliam unseats her.
• Whether either candidate responds to the Nevada Current's interview requests, which neither had answered.
• How the fundraising gap reported as of July, more than $91,000 raised by Leavitt versus $15,000 by Gilliam, appears in later disclosures.