Democrats expand control of Assembly, keep state Senate

By Colton Lochhead and Taylor R. Avery Las Vegas Review-Journal

1 year ago

Assembly members, including Assemblyman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, left, recite the Pledge of A ... — Assembly members, including Assemblyman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, left, recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a floor session in the Legislative Building in Carson City Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Assemblyman Steve Yeager, the incumbent candidate for Assembly District 9, at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae

Assemblyman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, leads an Assembly Judiciary Committee meeting in the Legislative Building in Carson City Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

After four years of Democrats holding the legislative trifecta — governor, state Senate and Assembly — Republicans managed to retake the governor’s mansion during this year’s midterm elections, with Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo unseating incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak.

But Lombardo shouldn’t expect any sort of warm and fuzzy reception from across the state Capitol courtyard.

Despite the Republican gains in constitutional offices, Democrats actually expanded their majorities in both chambers of the Legislature —and even took back a supermajority in the state Assembly after flipping two seats from Republican to Democrat control.

That raises the question of just what Lombardo — who campaigned on promises of repealing legislation that Democrats had passed on criminal justice reform and mail ballots and on expanding school choice across the state — will be able to accomplish as he heads into his first legislative session as governor.

Republicans were banking heavily on a “red wave” election to help them flip at least two seats in the state Senate and retake control of the Legislature’s upper chamber and shrink the Democrats’ stronghold on the Assembly.

But that wave never came in Nevada, nor anywhere else in the country. In those pivotal legislative races, Democrats prevailed across the board, in some cases by just a few hundred votes.

In the Senate, Democrats now hold a 13-8 advantage over Republicans. And in the Assembly, they have a 28-14 supermajority, meaning they can pass tax and revenue packages and override a governor’s veto without a single vote from across the aisle.

“I want to thank all of our supporters for helping us win in a tough election cycle,” Speaker Pro Tem Steve Yeager said in a statement. “We are so proud to bring a supermajority to Carson City that will work to protect women’s reproductive freedoms, improve our education system, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and bring good paying jobs to Nevada. Assembly Democrats will continue to fight for Nevada’s working families and build on the progress we have made in the Battle Born State.”

State Senate

Republicans had viewed Senate District 8 as their best chance at flipping a seat this election cycle. Democrats held a registration advantage of just 2.9 percentage points in the district held by incumbent Democrat Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, who was seeking a second term this year. Republican Joey Paulos, a longtime gaming executive, nearly managed to flip the seat, but lost by a razor-thin margin to Dondero Loop, 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent.

Democrat Julie Pazina beat Republican Cherlyn Arrington in the race for Senate District 12, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent, turning the longtime Republican seat blue. The seat had been held for 12 years by Republican Sen. Joe Hardy, who was term-limited and ran instead successfully for Boulder City mayor. The district saw its boundaries shift substantially during redistricting in 2021, with Democrats now holding a 5.7-percentage-point registration advantage over Republicans.

State Assembly

In the Assembly races, Democrats managed to defend three tightly contested seats while also flipping two GOP seats to claim the supermajority in the lower chamber, which they last held after the 2018 elections.

Incumbent Democrat Michelle Gorelow narrowly held off Republican challenger Tiffany Jones in Assembly District 35, claiming her third Assembly term after defeating Jones 48.9 percent to 47.4 percent.

Assembly District 35 is one of the closer districts in terms of voter registration, with Democrats holding a slim 3.3-percentage-point margin. Gorelow won the seat in 2020 by just more than 2,200 votes, or about 4.8 percentage points.

In Assembly District 37, where Democrats also hold a 3.3-percentage-point margin, former Democratic Assemblywoman Shea Backus beat Republican Jacob Deaville 50.5 percent to 47.9 percent, retaking her old seat and flipping it from red to blue. Republican Andy Matthews, who defeated Backus for the seat in 2020, did not run for re-election, running successfully for state controller this year instead.

In Assembly District 12, Democrat Max Carter II beat Republican Flemming Larson in a narrow victory that kept the Democrat-held seat blue for at least one more session, winning by nearly 2 percentage points, 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent. Democrat Susie Martinez, who has represented the district since she was first elected in 2018, chose not to run for re-election after being elected Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO in August 2021.

In Assembly District 21, incumbent Democrat Elaine Marzola beat Republican Jon Petrick by a margin of 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent to earn a second term in Carson City.

In Reno-based Assembly District 25, Democrat Selena La Rue Hatch beat Republican Sam Kumar 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent. The seat is currently held by Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles, who chose not to run for re-election this year.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.