A new legal fight is gunning for North Las Vegas Councilman Scott Black’s mayoral ambitions, with a March 16, 2026 complaint asking a Nevada court to keep his name off the ballot on the grounds that state term limits would make him ineligible.
The lawsuit, filed in state court, seeks an order blocking local election officials from certifying or printing Black’s name ahead of the primary. Black, first elected to the Ward 3 council seat in 2017, is one of several hopefuls who jumped into the race during this month’s official candidate filing period.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the complaint asks the court to bar government entities from placing Black’s name on any ballot and names the North Las Vegas city clerk and the Clark County registrar of voters as additional parties. The filing urges judges to stop those officials from certifying or printing his name until the eligibility question is sorted out.
The City of North Las Vegas candidate list shows Black filed to run for mayor on March 4, 2026, alongside other declared candidates Daniele Monroe-Moreno, Gary Bouchard, Henry Thorns and Zaire Langdon. The Nevada Secretary of State’s 2026 election calendar lists the primary for Tuesday, June 9, 2026, with early voting beginning in late May. (City of North Las Vegas; Nevada Secretary of State.)
What the complaint argues
The plaintiffs argue that if Black wins the mayor’s office in 2026, his time on the North Las Vegas council plus his mayoral service would push him past the 12-year cap on local governing bodies set in the state constitution, making him ineligible to be elected.
The lawsuit leans on Nevada’s term limit language and prior court precedent. In a 2014 decision known as Lorton v. Jones, the Nevada Supreme Court interpreted those limits to bar officials who have already logged 12 years on a city council from then serving more time as mayor on that same governing body. The ruling is summarized by Justia. The plaintiffs want a judge to apply that reasoning to North Las Vegas and to issue an order keeping Black off the ballot. The underlying term limit language appears in the state charter, which is published by the Nevada Legislature.
Black's campaign and priorities
On the campaign trail, Black is sticking to familiar themes. His materials spotlight public safety, neighborhood revitalization and economic development, the same issues he has highlighted since first taking office. His campaign website notes that he was elected to the Ward 3 seat in June 2017 and casts the mayoral bid as a way to continue that work on a larger stage. (Scott Black campaign.)
What happens next
The clock is already ticking. Courts often fast-track ballot eligibility fights because of printing schedules and early voting deadlines, and this case is likely to be no exception.
If a judge ultimately rules that Black cannot appear on the ballot, the decision could shake up the June primary field and set off a fresh round of appeals in Nevada’s courts, potentially sending the dispute back up to the state’s higher courts for a final word.
