North Las Vegas voters heading to the polls by November 3 are weighing a mayoral runoff between two familiar local names against a backdrop of rents, gas and grocery prices that residents say have become unmanageable. Ward 3 Councilman Scott Black and Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno are the two finalists left standing after a crowded primary, and both are campaigning hard on the same word: affordability.
The contest, as reported by KSNV, is technically nonpartisan even though both candidates are registered Democrats — Black, notably, is a Democrat who was formerly a Republican. One North Las Vegas voter who commutes to Henderson told the station that filling a full gas tank used to cost $40; now, half a tank costs the same amount. Tiffany Washington, a lifelong North Las Vegas resident who says she remains undecided in the race, told KSNV that a one-bedroom apartment in the city now runs about $1,000 a month, compared to the $400 to $600 she remembers paying in years past.
A Runoff Born From a Crowded Primary
Neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold needed to win outright in the primary, which is why North Las Vegas voters are back at it in the general election. Five candidates originally ran, according to Nevada Current, and the exact primary tallies differ depending on the source. Nevada Current reported Monroe-Moreno finished first with 47% of the vote, or 13,809 ballots, to Black’s nearly 42%, or 12,198 votes, while the Las Vegas Review-Journal put the split at 46% for Monroe-Moreno and 42.5% for Black. Either way, Monroe-Moreno entered the general election with a lead, and both candidates have months of legislative and council experience to lean on.
Black has served on the North Las Vegas City Council for nine years, first elected in 2017, and has spent the last three years as mayor pro tem — the city’s second-highest office behind the mayor, per the station’s reporting. Monroe-Moreno has represented Assembly District 1, which covers North Las Vegas, since 2016 and currently chairs the Democratic Party of Nevada. The seat opened up because outgoing Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown is term-limited; her time as mayor counts against the city’s 12-year cap, Nevada Current reported, making her ineligible to run again.
A Court Fight Over Eligibility
Black’s path to the general election wasn’t entirely smooth. A separate term-limits lawsuit challenged his eligibility to run, but a Clark County District Court judge ruled against the challenge, allowing Black to continue his campaign, according to The Nevada Independent. The ruling cleared the way for the matchup voters are now deciding.
Both candidates agree on one basic point: city government has limited power over the prices driving voters’ frustration. Black has been direct about it: he told KSNV that it was almost impossible for the City Council to lower the cost of gas and food. Instead, he points to housing and public safety as the levers North Las Vegas can actually pull — he says the city has developed 1,400 affordable housing units since 2017, per Nevada Current, and argues the council can work with more developers and tap federal funds to build more. He has also framed proactive police patrols aimed at curbing retail theft as part of an affordability strategy.
Competing Visions on Spending and Transparency
Monroe-Moreno has taken a different tack, criticizing what she describes as a lack of transparency from current city council leadership in negotiating city contracts. She argues that greater transparency and accountability could reveal money that might otherwise be redirected toward affordability programs, and says the council can prioritize projects that put residents first and require community investment. Speaking to 8NewsNow, she summed up the stakes bluntly: “It’s everything involving affordability. The prices of homes, the price of food, the price of gas, the lack of health care in areas in our city.” She has also pointed to her years in the state Legislature and her relationships with state and federal officials as an asset, saying she would put North Las Vegas residents first in every decision.
The two campaigns have also traded barbs over roles outside the mayoral race itself. Black has criticized Monroe-Moreno for leading the state Democratic Party while seeking a technically nonpartisan office, while Monroe-Moreno has kept her criticism trained on city hall’s handling of contracts and spending. The attacks reflect a broader split in how each candidate wants voters to see the job: Black emphasizing his council experience and local track record, Monroe-Moreno emphasizing outside-in change and Carson City connections.
The Numbers Behind the Frustration
The anxiety voiced by North Las Vegas residents mirrors statewide trends. Nevada needs 78,121 more homes affordable to extremely low-income households, according to a National Low Income Housing Coalition report, and the group found just 16 rental homes are affordable and available for every 100 extremely low-income households statewide. The same report found a full-time Nevada worker needs to earn $33.33 an hour to afford the state’s average two-bedroom fair-market rent of $1,733. North Las Vegas itself carries a 5% unemployment rate as of August, the highest among Southern Nevada cities, Nevada Current reported.
Statewide, median rents and home prices have outpaced income growth over the past decade, leaving residents financially burdened, per The Nevada Independent, which also noted Nevada’s average fuel costs rank fourth-highest in the country. An Emerson College poll cited by the outlet found 43% of Nevada voters name the economy as their top issue, with 15% pointing specifically to housing affordability — numbers that track closely with what North Las Vegas voters described to KSNV at the doorstep.
Endorsements Split Along Familiar Lines
The endorsement lists for each candidate reflect their differing bases of support. Former North Las Vegas mayors John Lee and Shari Buck have backed Black, according to Nevada Current, while Monroe-Moreno has drawn support from Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, and U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. North Las Vegas has changed considerably since a brush with bankruptcy in 2013, developing into one of the region’s fastest-growing cities through industrial development, education investment and new housing construction, The Nevada Independent reported — growth that now sits at the center of the affordability debate both candidates are trying to claim.
Down the ballot, two City Council races are also unresolved. In Ward 1, Esmeralda Villeda led with 39.7% of the primary vote to Sherry Strothers’ 34.4%, per the Review-Journal, while in Ward 3 — the seat Black currently holds — Ida Zeiler appeared to be winning outright with 62.6% over William E. Robinson II’s 37.4%. North Las Vegas voters must cast their ballots by 7 p.m. on November 3 to settle the mayor’s race and the council contests alongside it.
