9 votes separate candidates in North Las Vegas race

Nine votes separated the two North Las Vegas City Council candidates vying to represent the city’s Ward 2, according to figures posted Wednesday by the Nevada Secretary of State.

Councilwoman Ruth Garcia-Anderson pulled ahead of entrepreneur and community organizer Robert “Twixx” Taylor, who had been leading by slim margins earlier in the week.

Election officials had reported 20,605 votes cast in that race — with Ruth-Garcia leading Taylor by 10,307 to 10,298 votes.

Nevada voters had until Tuesday evening to cure signatures on mail-in ballots and it wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday how many were outstanding ballots that needed to be tallied and/or reported.

Garcia-Anderson on Wednesday acknowledged the neck-and-neck race.

“This race has been incredibly close, and I’m feeling very emotional at the moment,” she wrote in a text message to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Garcia-Anderson credited her supporters “who helped me reach out to voters to ensure they called the election department to confirm their ballots were counted.”

Taylor did not return messages seeking comment.

Local jurisdictions will canvass their returns on Thursday, and send them to the Nevada Supreme Court on Nov. 26.

The losing candidate could “demand and receive” a recount within three working days after the canvas, according to state law.

A candidate who requests a recount has to pay for it.

“If the person who demanded the recount does not prevail, and it is found that the sum deposited was less than the cost of the recount, the person shall, upon demand, pay the deficiency to the county clerk, city clerk or Secretary of State, as the case may be,” according to state law. “If the sum deposited is in excess of the cost, the excess must be refunded to the person.”

Garcia-Anderson was appointed to the Ward 2 seat after former Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown was elected North Las Vegas mayor in 2022.

Taylor, who previously ran for mayor, bested Garcia-Anderson by 38 votes during the June primary which sent the two top candidates to the general election.

He led the race by 35 votes on Tuesday and 63 votes on Monday.

A total of 7,545 ballots in Clark County required signature curing as of noon Wednesday, down from 7,770 Tuesday. The secretary of state’s office hasn’t announced whether election officials had finished counting votes.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.