Nevada Senate Democrats have elected Las Vegas Sen. Edgar Flores as their new majority leader, handing the caucus's top job to a state senator who built his career on consumer protection, workers' rights and immigration advocacy. Flores steps into the role ahead of the 2027 legislative session, which convenes February 1 in Carson City.
Flores succeeds Nicole Cannizzaro, who won her race to become Nevada's next attorney general, according to Nevada Current. As reported by the Las Vegas Sun, Flores said he was deeply honored by his colleagues' trust and emphasized that working-class Nevadans expect solutions. The caucus confirmed the selection in a statement reported by FOX5 Las Vegas: “The Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus has elected Sen. Edgar Flores as Senate majority leader for the upcoming legislative session.”
An Attorney With Deep Roots at UNLV
Flores is an attorney who earned a bachelor's degree in English and a law degree from the William S. Boyd School of Law, both at UNLV, per his official state legislative profile. He has served in the Nevada Senate since being elected in November 2022, according to that same profile. His time in the Nevada Assembly is described differently across sources: his official legislative profile lists his Assembly service as running from 2015 to 2021 after his first election in November 2014, while News 3 Las Vegas reported he served eight years in the Assembly before joining the Senate.
Flores's legislative focus has centered on consumer protection, workers' rights and immigration issues, the Sun reported. He spoke at an immigration rally outside the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas in June 2025, according to the same reporting.
Affordability and Schools Top the Agenda
Flores laid out his priorities in a statement carried by FOX5 Las Vegas, saying he wants to focus “from expanding access to affordable housing and healthcare to investing in our neighborhood public schools and making sure our economy works for everyday people.” The Senate Democratic Caucus said it will prioritize lowering the cost of living, strengthening worker protections, fully funding schools and expanding economic opportunity across the state, the station reported.
Flores and the Senate Democratic leadership team will spend the coming weeks organizing committees and finalizing the caucus's legislative framework for the session, according to the same FOX5 Las Vegas report. The Sun noted that Flores said he looks forward to working with the Assembly and Gov.-elect Aaron Ford.
Democrats Sweep Into Full Control of State Government
The leadership change comes as Democrats won the governor's office and retained control of both legislative chambers in Tuesday's midterm elections, per the Sun's reporting. Ford defeated Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in the gubernatorial race and will become Nevada's first Black governor, the Sun reported. Democrats will hold full control of Nevada's state government for the first time since Steve Sisolak left office in January 2023, according to the same account.
The scale of the sweep was significant: Democrats secured all six of Nevada's statewide constitutional offices, a feat last achieved by one party when Republicans did it in 2014, according to The Nevada Independent. As of early Wednesday after the election, Democrats held a two-thirds supermajority in the Assembly and were one seat short of a Senate supermajority, the outlet reported.
What a Democratic Trifecta Could Mean for Policy
With Democrats now holding the governor's office alongside legislative majorities, the party's priorities around housing and school funding will carry fresh weight heading into 2027. Nevada's 2025 legislative session concluded in June with hundreds of proposals becoming law and 87 more vetoed by Lombardo, The Nevada Independent reported — a dynamic that is expected to shift markedly now that veto power rests with a Democratic governor.
That prior session also produced a Lombardo-backed housing bill, AB540, which directed more than $130 million in state funds toward attainable housing projects, according to the Independent's policy tracker. Lawmakers also unanimously approved splitting the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services to create the Nevada Health Authority, the outlet reported. On school funding, the statewide base per-pupil figure was set at $9,416 for the 2025-26 school year and is slated to climb to $9,486 the following year, per the same reporting — numbers that will likely factor into the new majority leader's push to fully fund schools.
Flores's past legal trouble also drew attention in coverage of his rise to leadership. 8 News Now reported that Flores pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of careless driving in January 2026, and that he was fined $685, ordered to attend DUI school and served two days in jail as a result.
For now, the caucus's full legislative agenda remains a work in progress. Flores and his leadership team have said only that they will spend the coming weeks organizing committees and setting the legislative framework ahead of the session's February 1 start in Carson City.
