Bilbray-Axelrod seeking fourth term in Assembly

Three-term incumbent Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod is seeking her fourth term in the Assembly, where she chairs the Education Committee.

She’s being challenged by Republican Stacy Butler in a district where Democrats have a more than 5,500 active registered voter edge over the GOP.

Bilbray-Axelrod, a consultant whose work includes judicial races, told the Review-Journal she wants to make sure Nevada is “headed in the right direction” so her daughter will want to stay and raise a family here, too. Bilbray herself is from a famous Nevada political family; she’s the daughter of the late Congressman Jim Bilbray.

She said the pandemic set kids back far with their education, and the learning loss that will surface in the next few years will be “insurmountable.”

She also pointed to Southern Nevada’s teacher “retention problem.”

“Teachers do not feel appreciated, and we are losing them at record numbers in Clark County,” Bilbray-Axelrod said.

Asked to cite a few bills she worked on and was most proud of, one she cited was a measure from the 2019 session that removed the ability of a minor under 17 to get married.

“We had a lot of people who were taking advantage of our lax marriage laws, and we were having child brides,” said Bilbray-Axelrod, the bill’s primary sponsor.

Butler, a claims operations and training consultant, previously worked as director of catastrophe operations for claims-processing firm Sedgwick.

She also was an air traffic controller in the U.S. Air Force and served in the Nevada Army National Guard, she said.

According to her campaign website, Butler has received “A” ratings from the Nevada Firearms Coalition and the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund.

Diversifying the economy and ensuring kids are “well-equipped for the jobs of today and tomorrow” should be every elected leader’s priority, she told the Review-Journal.

She also said crime and public safety must be a priority to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.

Butler added that her skills include “active listening, negotiation, conflict resolution, empathy and critical thinking,” and that she and her husband are primary caregivers for her 90-year-old father and her special-needs sister-in-law.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported how many terms Bilbray-Axelrod has served in the Assembly. She has served three terms, and is now seeking a fourth.