LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Minja Yan came out of nowhere to win the Democratic primary for Clark County Commission District F.
She beat six other candidates, including Minddie Lloyd, who had been endorsed by incumbent Commissioner Justin Jones and other establishment figures. (Jones decided not to run for re-election.)
Yan — who's been involved in the Las Vegas community for years but hasn't sought office before — said she pulled it off by putting in the work of retail politics.
"Throughout the campaign, the primary, and even for the general election, I focused on sharing my vision and my policy with the voters and trying to communicate with them what the future of Clark County could look like," she said in an interview with Channel 13.
WATCH | Yan riding light rail to commission seat
But a commission bid is far from Yan's first foray into public service. The Desert Oasis High School and UNLV grad has served on a committee of the Regional Transportation Commission, been involved in Chinatown redevelopment and deals in commercial real estate.
"So I wanted to meet as many people as I can in different neighborhoods, so I can understand the issues in different neighborhoods," she said.
In the general election, Yan faces Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama and former Republican state Sen. Becky Harris, who is running as an independent.
At just 31 years old, Yan would be the youngest commissioner elected in decades. She says her youth is an asset to serving.
"I think a lot of the voters would like to see some fresh ideas and fresh energy into Clark County and shaping the future of our community," she said. "It's about having a future-focused mindset because we think long-term, because my generation, the next generation, we want to call Las Vegas home. We want to raise our family in this town."
WATCH | Minja Yan talks light rail, big vision
While Yan may be young, she says her No. 1 issue is something that's been discussed plenty in the past: light-rail. She's got a plan for a light rail line that runs through her district, and a campaign poster she carries shows the route of the proposed train.
"I think from a more broad and long-term perspective, Las Vegas is the only and the last major metropolitan city in the Mountain West that does not have a mass transit public system yet," she said. "I notice that what [the Regional Transportation Commission] thinks about a light-rail system, they focus on the transportation, transit point of view; that's what they do as a regional transportation commission. But because of my commercial real-estate background, I focus on transportation and housing land-use perspectives, too."
As far as Yan is concerned, light rail doesn't just mean moving people from point to point. It's also something that can spur the development of attainable housing, new commercial businesses and access to Harry Reid International Airport without having to use a car, rideshare or shuttle.
The biggest object to light rail has always been the cost, although Yan says the public wants the system. But she's got a plan for that as well: A tax-increment financing district in which increases in property tax would go to pay for the system, rather than to the county's general fund.
In the long term, she says, it would cost less than buying buses and maintaining them in the long term.
Yan points to the Las Vegas Beltway as an example of a project that was paid for locally, born of a commission that saw the utility in a new freeway around the valley.
"So it shows that if we have a big coalition, a vision and good momentum behind it, Clark County can do something really extraordinary and set the vision for our future growth for the next 30 years," she said.
Yan also says the county needs a regional plan, coordinated with local cities, that addresses issues that affect the entire valley, similar to plans in Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. And she said crime is an important issue, especially in Chinatown, where the language barrier may inhibit investigating and solving crimes.
The biggest problem facing the county?
"The lack of vision," she says. "The lack of unified, long-term vision. Once you have that vision, all of these issues and problems can be solved if you have a unified vision and building big coalition partnerships. Right now, we're growing, but what does Clark County look like in the next 20 years."
COMING THURSDAY: Nonpartisan candidate Becky Harris
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