Some Clark County voters waited in line for four-and-a-half hours after the polls closed on Election Day in Nevada.
Why?
"A lot of excitement," Lorena Portilla, Clark County registrar of voters, told reporters on Tuesday, noting that 2026 had higher turnout than 2022, a comparable midterm with a gubernatorial election. Roughly 677,000 voters have cast their ballots in Clark County so far. "A lot of excitement for voters to go in person and vote," she said.
The first batch of results, which dropped around midnight, showed that the blue wave had hit Nevada — and soaked it. In Clark County, several Democrats won against Republican or former Republican candidates, even in nonpartisan races.
However, many races on the local level also deal with "pothole issues" that are practical municipal concerns rather than partisan policies.
In a follow-up email statement, Portilla added that several large polling sites did not have lines, that a lot of residents decided to vote in person and that the county had an unusually long ballot this year.
"The two card ballot this year with 142 contests and 254 candidates was unique to Clark County and contributed to the time it took for a person to make their choices at election sites," Portilla said. "We strongly encourage the public to take advantage of early voting and mail ballots as alternatives to in-person Election Day wait times."
Read more on the results in Southern Nevada:
Clark County District F
The progressive Democrat Minja Yan took home the win last night against Assm. Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas) and nonpartisan candidate Becky Harris, a former state senator.
By Wednesday afternoon, Yan was firmly ahead of Kasama by at least 14 points while Harris trailed the two with roughly 7 percent of the vote.
Yan, who declined to take corporate donations, was outraised and outspent by the two other candidates and at the end of this race, she had only $5,399 left in her bank account after raising around $133,500 the entire cycle and spending roughly $110,200. In contrast, Harris raised more than $410,000 and spent over $450,000; Kasama spent around $557,000 and raised around $330,500.
When asked about her small remaining bank balance via a phone interview with The Nevada Independent, Yan laughed.
"We didn't have a lot of funding or political resources when we started," Yan said. "But we had a lot of community support and community resources."
Yan had an ambitious, policy-forward platform that focused on developing light rail infrastructure in Southern Nevada, as well as encouraging affordable housing and ensuring responsible growth that protected land and water resources in the valley. She attributes her win to this platform.
"I think the national trends definitely impacted my race," Yan said. "But I believe that at the core, the main reason why my campaign was successful was that we had a vision. We were able to communicate our policy plan to voters and we are able to build a big coalition."
Harris pointed to those national trends as a deciding factor in her loss. If it were a different election year, Harris said she believes her race might have gone differently and that the numbers weren't "reflective of the effort that was put into the campaign."
"We got caught up in the middle of Trump's war in Iran and disenchantment with national policy," Harris said. "This is an example of larger federal politics and policies impacting local races."
Kasama did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Yan, who said she will be meeting with the rest of the commissioners today, said her immediate priority was building a District F team that would help her accomplish her long-term goals for Clark County.
"I will not be able to accomplish these policies and visions alone," Yan said.
North Las Vegas
In North Las Vegas, Assm. Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas) won her bid for mayor against Councilmember Scott Black.
The Nevada Democratic Party chair, Monroe-Moreno is connected to Democratic leadership at the state and national levels; she campaigned extensively with Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, who won his bid for governor and was endorsed by former Vice President Kamala Harris.
"When Democrats get elected, we aren't elected to represent a party," Monroe-Moreno told a crowd of Ford supporters at a rally in Las Vegas the night before Election Day. "We are elected to represent the people."
The race for North Las Vegas mayor is nonpartisan, but Black, who was endorsed by outgoing North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown, had previously been registered as a Republican before switching his registration.
Black was endorsed by several high-profile groups in Nevada, including the Vegas Chamber and several law enforcement groups in Clark County. He had also outraised and outspent Monroe-Moreno significantly. Black sank $1 million into the race over the course of the cycle while Monroe-Monreo spent half that at around $500,000. She raised roughly $467,000 while Black raised around $635,500.
Speaking at the Ford victory rally on Wednesday, Monroe-Moreno said her race felt independent of nationwide trends, though she was proud of the work that Democrats had done across the United States. Her term as state party chair ends in March 2027, and she said she would not run for re-election.
"t wasn't the first time people saw me or heard from me, knew me. But nationwide, I've been working with state party chairs across this country to do what you saw last night," she told reporters.
Black did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent, but Monroe-Moreno said he called her in the afternoon and they were planning on meeting for lunch in the future.
In the Ward 1 city council race, Esmeralda Villeda won against Sherry Strothers. Villeda is a real estate professional who sits on the North Las Vegas Planning Commission. She had previously expressed support for Black in interviews with The Nevada Independent, but said she would be eager to work Monroe-Monreo if they were both elected.
Henderson
In Henderson, Mayor Michelle Romero won her race for re-election against former police chief Hollie Chadwick by more than 20 percentage points as of Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm very pleased with the result; it came in just about where we thought it would," Romero told The Indy.
Chadwick was fired under Romero's leadership in early 2025 after serving less than two years as police chief. The dispute came up in attack ads several times during the campaign. Though the race is nonpartisan, Chadwick and Romero are registered Republicans.
Romero outraised and outspent Chadwick. Final fundraising results show that Chadwick had roughly $7,000 on hand in this last cycle while Romero had around $287,600.
In the Ward 3 race, newcomer Jennifer Atlas beat Councilmember Carrie Cox in her bid for re-election. Atlas works as a government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and has advocated for healthcare issues in the state Legislature.
The Henderson City Council is nonpartisan, though Atlas is a registered Democrat. She will be the sole Democrat on the council.
In a text message to The Nevada Independent, Atlas said she was "humbled" and "grateful" for the win.
"I campaigned on fighting to lower costs, increase access to quality healthcare and keep our community safe," Atlas said.
Leaving the council is Cox, with whom Romero has had a contentious and at times openly hostile public relationship with over the past four years during their shared time in Henderson government. When asked about Atlas, Romero said she did not know her well but was looking forward to beginning a partnership.
"She will bring a new energy and I'm excited to work with her," Romero said.
Las Vegas
With just a difference of 144 votes in the race for Las Vegas' Ward 2 council seat, attorney Shannon Nordstrom has pulled just slightly ahead of firefighter Luke McCarthy as of Wednesday afternoon.
With votes still coming in and tens of thousands of mail ballots still to be counted, the results could still change.
Some states will automatically recount an election if the candidate vote counts are within 0.5 percent of each other, but Nevada has no automatic recount threshold. However, candidates have a right to demand a recount within three days of an election.
Neither Nordstrom nor McCarthy responded to a request for a comment in time for publication.
