LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Becky Harris knows the odds, that a nonpartisan candidate has never been elected to the Clark County Commission.
But that isn't stopping the former Republican state senator from trying to be the first person without a political party to sit on the powerful seven-member body.
The district has more nonpartisan voters than any other in Clark County, and an almost even number of Republicans and Democrats. As a nonpartisan, Harris skipped the primary election and went right to the general election ballot, where she will face Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama and Democratic commercial real estate broker Minja Yan.
"I think anything that's ever been written about me politically demonstrates that I was never a real comfortable fit in either of the two parties or part of the two-party system," Harris said in an interview with Channel 13. "I've always been an independent thinker. I've always executed my own judgment. I have always been a good voice for my community and being a nonpartisan really is what I am and represents me the best."
Harris is an attorney by training, and did work in foreclosure mediation. She defeated then-state Sen. Justin Jones in 2014 to win a single term in the upper house of the Legislature. (Ironically, it was Jones's decision not to seek a third and final term on the county commission that left the seat open this year.)
Harris resigned from the state Senate in early 2018, when she was appointed by former Gov. Brian Sandoval as the first woman ever to chair the Nevada Gaming Control Board. She was only on the job for five days when news broke that casino legend Steve Wynn had been accused of sexual misconduct, an issue she would address throughout the industry during her term.
"I think that, again, the first female chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board had never been done before," she said. "The first time that the industry had ever had to take a hard look at workplace treatment — that was the first time we'd ever engaged in anything like that and we were very transparent and very open about that."
Harris said her political party doesn't come up much when talking to voters; instead, she said, they ask her about the issues facing the county.
WATCH | Harris bids to be first nonpartisan on Clark County Commission
For example, she favors an apartment-style development where people could rent at affordable rates while also undergoing job training, with job placement services on site. Once they were financially ready, they could move into a home of their own, she said.
"I don't know that we'll ever have affordable housing, but we can have attainable housing, [it's] a really challenging, complex issue," she said.
She also said the county needs to acquire available land at reasonable costs to build attainable homes. "I would be very interested in untangling all of those knots to figure out what works and how we can facilitate that, because when I talk to home builders, what I'm being told is the cost of land is what's prohibitively expensive, and that's why the housing costs are being driven up."
Harris says she'd work to make sure data centers have as little impact on neighborhoods as possible, but says she doesn't believe in a moratorium. "Growth and development is our economic engine," she said. "And if we want to continue to have opportunity, we need to have a lens through which we look at these type of uses, and I think if you can find the right location, and then you can put in the right buffers and transitions, you're able to put those kinds of uses."
If elected, Harris would join a board that now has four former state lawmakers serving. But she insists she will not become frustrated at dealing with local issues — she mentioned pine needles collecting on streets — as opposed to the sweeping remit of the state Legislature.
"I am a public servant, emphasis on the service, and I want to serve my community," she says. "My grandchildren live in this commission district, right? So I want a community where people feel that they are a part of that community. I want a place where we've got community gathering centers, which we don't. I want a place where there is opportunity for the rising generation, because like every other family, I want my family close."
Early voting starts on Oct. 17, and all active registered voters in Clark County will get a mail ballot sent to them automatically. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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