Long-time judge draws challenger in Clark County Dept. 30 

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese is seeking a fourth term on the bench. Wiese first won election in 2010. He was reelected in 2014 and was not challenged in 2020. 

“I’ve been a judge for 16 years, and I’m just trying to keep my job,” he told the Current. “People ask me why I should get another term, and I say ‘experience, fairness, and integrity. If those things are important, I’m the guy.’”

Wiese says he’s established that he’s prepared for court and “that I’m pretty fair. I think people respect me overall.” He notes even litigants who come out on the losing side of cases “feel like they got a fair shake and had their day in court.”

The judge earned an 83% retention rating from attorneys who participated in the Las Vegas Review-Journal Judging the Judges 2025 survey. 

Of 70 criminal appeals, Wiese was reversed five times, according to Our Nevada Judges.  Of 156 civil appeals, he was reversed 65 times. 

Josh Santeramo, who is challenging Wiese, says his opponent’s error rate is “among the worst on the bench.”

Santeramo grew up in San Francisco, where observing the experiences of the unhoused sparked a desire to engage in social work by being a lawyer. 

He attended the University of California Davis and moved to Las Vegas to attend UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. He’s been an attorney for 15 years and is licensed to practice in both states. \

After 10 years in personal injury and criminal defense, Santeramo says he embraced his desire to be of service. He left private practice and went to work for Nevada Attorneys for Injured Workers, a state agency that assists individuals who have had their benefits denied.

“I’m at the right point in my career – a sweet spot between experience as well as longevity, where theoretically, I could be on the bench for two or three terms, have that time to develop and be a good judge,” he says. 

Wiese, he notes, hasn’t been challenged “in a long time.” He also cites the judge’s high rate of reversal on civil appeals. 

“The one thing I keep hearing from everybody about Wiese is ‘he’s been around forever.’ I got a call from one of his supporters an hour after I filed, begging me not to run against him because he’s been around forever.”

Santeramo, like Wiese, stresses the importance of being prepared for hearings. 

“People want to know you’re not there to rush them out of the courtroom – that you actually took the time to look at their case, whether it has merit or not, and give them a little respect and dignity,” he says, adding that most “are okay having their day in court and losing, if they feel like they treated were treated respectfully.”

Wiese, who just wrapped up a four-year term as chief judge, says Clark County’s civil and criminal caseloads have outgrown the court’s 32 departments. Last year he asked the Legislature to fund 18 new seats.

“They said, ‘well, that’s too many. What’s a smaller number?’” recalls Wiese, who says a subsequent study determined the court needs 14 new departments. “If we go to the Legislature and ask for 14, I think we’ll get the same response.” 

Judicial candidates who have experience in either civil or criminal law, but not both, often note the chief judge has the discretion to reassign the docket.

While that’s true, Wiese, who was responsible as chief judge for assigning dockets, says court assignments shouldn’t be dictated by a judge’s skill set. 

“It’s my belief that a judge should be able to do just about anything that appears in front of them,” Wiese says. “All the judges that we have in our rural counties do everything,”

Wiese currently has a civil docket. “I think that’s where my strength is. And having done criminal for about five years, I feel I really didn’t need that drama in my life anymore.” 

Wiese is endorsed by a number of law enforcement, political, labor, and community organizations, including Women’s Democratic Club, Veterans in Politics, IATSE, and the Southern Nevada Labor Council.

As of July, Wiese reported contributions of $363,000 and had roughly $324,000 on hand. 

For the same period, Santeramo reported he’d raised $8,500 and had $5,600 on hand.  He says being the underdog is a familiar role. “That’s what I do all the time.”

Santeramo is endorsed by PLAN Action, Clark County Deputy Marshals Association, Culinary Local 226, the Bartenders Union, SEIU Nevada, and Nevada NOW PAC.

Newcomers to politics “feel overwhelmed by the campaign process and the way incumbents are endorsed and funded,” says Santeramo. “It feels like a futile effort. But I think it’s important for more to step forward and want to do this job – people from diverse backgrounds, so that we don’t just keep getting the same kinds of judges on the bench.”