Democrats are poised to hold four of five seats on the Washoe County Commission when new members take office in January, a political shift the county says appears to be unprecedented.
The Nov. 3 election put Democrats in position to flip two Republican-held districts and retain a Democratic incumbent, giving the party a potential 4-1 majority. The change was first reported by The Nevada Independent.
The county's five-member Board of County Commissioners represents residents across Washoe County, including Reno, Sparks, Spanish Springs and Sun Valley. Commissioners have a role in county spending and policy, including decisions involving public services and land use, according to the county’s description of the board.
The new lineup would leave Commissioner Clara Andriola, who represents District 4, as the board's only Republican.
“The county says it does not believe Democrats have ever controlled the commission,” The Nevada Independent reported Nov. 5.
Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College, told KOLO the result was notable even amid broader Democratic gains in Nevada.
“I’ve lived in this county for 35 years,” Lokken said. “First time I am seeing a democratic majority on that commission.”
The results remain unofficial. Washoe County said Nov. 10 that approximately 99% of ballots had been counted and that about 1,500 provisional ballots had been determined eligible. The county scheduled its official canvass for Nov. 13, when commissioners are expected to review and declare the final results. The county's election update said all deadlines for receiving mail ballots and curing signature challenges had passed.
Who won the commission races
In District 2, former Reno police officer Marie Rodriguez, a Democrat, leads Republican Jon Killoran. The contest remained close as ballots were counted after Election Day. This Is Reno reported Nov. 6 that Rodriguez led by 451 votes, with 22,622 votes to Killoran's 22,171.
The district had nearly 10 percentage points more registered Republicans than Democrats as of September, according to The Nevada Independent. Campaign finance reports cited by the publication showed Rodriguez raised a little more than $9,000 through Sept. 30, while Killoran raised nearly $100,000.
Rodriguez told The Nevada Independent she focused on building relationships and talking with voters rather than trying to match her opponent's spending. If elected, she said her priorities would include public safety, infrastructure, roads, senior services and bringing the community together.
In District 5, Democrat Brian Wadsworth defeated Republican Rob Pierce in a district that covers about 89% of the county's land and had been represented by Republicans for at least two decades. Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the district by about 5 percentage points, The Nevada Independent reported.
Pierce raised nearly $147,500 during the year, about five times Wadsworth's approximately $27,000, according to the publication.
Wadsworth, a former member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council, said he connected with rural voters over concerns including septic and well systems, power outages and growth.
“When I was out there talking to people in the rural communities, I think that we realized that we have a lot more in common than we may have differences,” he told The Nevada Independent in a Nov. 4 interview.
Incumbent Democratic Commissioner Mariluz Garcia won a second term in District 3, defeating Republican Troy Regas. Garcia told The Nevada Independent she hopes the board will remain focused on county services rather than partisan disputes.
“My hope is that things don't get political, that we just continue to focus on the good work that we need to do, to deliver those essential services,” she said.
The Nevada Secretary of State's election results page lists the candidates and unofficial totals for the three commission races. Washoe County's election reports page is the source for county results files and the final results release.
New commission will lose two election-certification holdouts
The incoming board also will not include two commissioners who repeatedly opposed certifying election results: Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark.
Herman is term-limited. Clark lost the Republican primary in June to Killoran, who went on to face Rodriguez in the general election.
The commissioners' votes against certification drew national attention in July 2024, when the board initially rejected the results of two local primary recounts before reversing course a week later. CBS News reported at the time that Herman and Clark had consistently voted against certifying election results.
The Nevada Independent reported that Rodriguez, Garcia and Wadsworth each said before the November election that they would certify election results regardless of the outcome.
Commission Chair Alexis Hill, a Democrat who represents District 1, will remain on the board through 2028. The newly elected commissioners are expected to take office in January.
