City councilman and state Democratic Party chair compete to lead North Las Vegas

North Las Vegas City Councilman Scott Black will face Democratic Assemblymember Daniele Monroe-Moreno in a contentious fight over who will become the city’s next mayor. 

Five candidates ran during the primary election, but none were able to secure more than 50% of the vote, leading to a general election run off. 

Monroe-Moreno, who came in first during the primary, obtained 47% of the vote, or 13,809 votes, while Black garnered nearly 42% of the vote, or 12,198 votes.

Current Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown served on the council since 2015 and only was elected to her first term as mayor 2022. Goynes-Brown, the state’s first Black mayor, was ineligible to run again because her term as mayor counts against a 12-year term limit of elected service in the city government.

If Black wins, he would only be eligible to serve one term because of term limits, which Monroe-Moreno has argued is a detriment to voters. 

Nevada Current interviewed both Black and Monroe-Moreno ahead of the primary election. 

Monroe-Moreno at the time told the Current the people of North Las Vegas need “a mayor who would be elected that could serve them for the next 12 years if blessed to do so with re-election.”

Though both candidates are Democrats, the race is nonpartisan.  

Monroe-Moreno is the Chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, which Black has argued is the one of the “most partisan jobs in Nevada.”

“Mayor of North Las Vegas is a nonpartisan office, meant to serve every resident,” Black’s website said. “City Hall should answer to neighbors — not hyper-partisan political agendas.”

Previous to serving on the council, Black owned a local marketing firm. He was first elected in 2017 and currently serves as mayor pro tem.

Monroe-Moreno has represented Assembly District 1, which encompasses North Las Vegas, since 2016. Prior to being elected, she was a corrections officer with the North Las Vegas Police Department.

North Las Vegas has come a long way to get back on stable footing since the economic downturn when the city was nearing bankruptcy in 2013.

Black, who is backed by Goynes-Brown, has said he has helped with the economic turnaround and wants to build on the work he has already done on the council.

“When I was first elected, North Las Vegas was really struggling,” his campaign website says, adding that the city is now thriving “with stronger public safety, improved neighborhoods, billions in economic investment, and great hope for the future.”

The city’s unemployment rate, at 5% as of August, still remains the highest among Southern Nevada cities. Monroe-Moreno previously told the Current it was a bad sign the rate remained higher than other cities.

Like in campaigns across the state – and the country – affordability and the high cost of living has weighed heavily on voters. Both candidates have said housing affordability is a priority if elected. 

Monroe-Moreno said she wanted to look at ways the city could crack down on corporate homeowners from purchasing excessive amounts of single family homes.  – state legislative efforts have died at the point of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s veto pen. 

Black said while he has been in office the city has developed “1,400 affordable housing units in our community since 2017,” adding that “we are doing something to create sustainability and access to homes that people can pay for.” 

The Culinary Union attempted to establish a 5% limit on rent increases in the city.

There were conflicting views on whether the union received the necessary amount of votes for the ballot initiative to qualify. In a 4-1 vote, Black was among the majority of city council members that ultimately killed the ballot initiative. 

He previously told the Current that the measure was “a one size fits all” solution that was inappropriate for the community.

Monroe-Moreno said in a previous interview that she wanted to look at ways to address steep rent increases and look at a “stabilization plan of how much rent can go up, so that a family, and especially my seniors, can manage and basically budget.”

In a recent interview with The Nevada Independent, she said she was against the city implementing a form of blanket rent control  but would support stabilization of “rent increases for Nevadans on a fixed income, including seniors, veterans, and those with disabilities.”

Black had a cash advantage with roughly $513,131 cash on hand according to recent campaign finance reports. Monroe-Moreno had about $92,370 cash on hand. 

Former North Las Vegas mayors John Lee and Shari Buck endorsed Black. 

Black is also endorsed by the North Las Vegas Police Association and North Las Vegas Firefighters as well as the Vegas Chamber and the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

Monroe-Moreno — the state Democratic Party chair —  is endorsed by top state Democratic leaders, including Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, whose district includes North Las Vegas, and Nevada U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. 

She is also backed by SEIU, Nevada State AFL-CIO, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund.