While most cities and counties rely on census data to draw their voting districts every decade, the City of Henderson does things a little differently. 

Henderson relies on internal population estimates produced by the city’s demographer, and as soon as the population balance between wards gets out of whack, the boundaries are redrawn.

The result is a map that changes frequently: The city has redistricted seven times in the last 15 years, and another redistricting effort last month led to finger-pointing between city council members and accusations of politicalized map drawing to benefit incumbents

Why?

In 2013, state lawmakers passed a law revising the city’s charter to ensure that none of the city council wards were 5 percent greater in population than any other of the wards, with redistricting limited only to non-election years. The change meant that the city demographer relied on internal population estimates instead of “the last preceding national decennial census” to make boundary changes. 

David Damore, a political science professor at UNLV, said the charter revision was largely irrelevant until 2022, when city voters approved a special ballot question that would switch city council elections from at-large to ward-only voting.

“It’s sort of a unique set up that they’ve carved out this authority,” Damore said. “It was never an issue until they actually went to ward voting.” 

Henderson’s internal population methodology hasn't been without controversy. At an Aug. 5 city council meeting, several residents complained about a lack of transparency around the redistricting process and a discrepancy between numbers produced by the city and those reflected in the census. 

Scott Gavorsky, a historian and former Census Bureau tribal partnership specialist, said Henderson’s figures didn’t match census population estimates. 

“In my professional opinion, the population estimates provided by the city have issues of accuracy and precision that do not support redistricting at this time,” Gavorsky said. 

City Demographer Andrew Powell said his population estimates trend slightly higher than census data, though he noted his internal population estimates are primarily based on building permit numbers and information from NV Energy on active accounts in the area. 

In an interview with The Nevada Independent, Powell defended the city’s unique redistricting process and said there is a wealth of research that census data consistently undercounts populations in rapidly expanding communities. As one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, he says Henderson fits that bill.

DATA: [City Growth Change Dataset]

Henderson is unique not just in Nevada, but across the country, in not using census data for redistricting. Fast-growing cities such as Austin, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Orlando, Florida, base redistricting on census data. 

North Las Vegas, which has also seen dramatic growth in the past 20 years, last updated its district ward map in 2014 and in 2021. Clark County, where the pace of growth is more moderate, updates its district lines every 10 years after the census is taken. Reno also dropped an at-large district and created a new ward in January 2024, but still relies on U.S. Census data for its population estimates. 

The city’s charter

According to minutes from a May 2013 legislative meeting,then-Henderson assistant attorney Nechole Garcia said the city wanted to ensure it was using the most up-to-date and accurate demographics as possible.

“We have changed the language requiring us to wait every 10 years for the census numbers to come in and, instead of that, we have used the numbers from our city demographer,” Garcia said during the meeting. “This is an in-house demographer who does maintain regular contact with the state and its population numbers to ensure accuracy.”

Garcia responded with “no comment” and declined to speak further about the issue when reached by phone. Jacob Snow, who served as Henderson’s city manager from 2012 to 2015, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

The legislation was passed unanimously, but Assm. Skip Daly (D-Sparks) raised concerns during the 2013 hearing about relying on the internal population estimates, though he noted that city services such as schools, police departments and fire stations might benefit from updated population estimates. Daly did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

“So it is an in-house demographer,” Daly said at the time. “I do not know if that would come into play, because how would we protect from the information being accurate? I am not questioning the person's integrity, but could the numbers be inflated? How do we protect ourselves from that?” 

According to city spokeswoman Madeleine Skains, the city’s population numbers are verified by the Department of Taxation as they have been since 2013. In an email, Skains said Henderson uses the same methodology as the Southern Nevada Census Population estimate, which was developed with Clark County, the state’s demographer and cities in the region. 

“While not every city may take this approach, we believe it strengthens electoral equity and ensures our residents are fairly represented at all times,” Skains said in an email. 

Political attacks

Earlier this month, Henderson Ward 3 Councilwoman Carrie Cox called the city’s latest redistricting process a political ploy to hurt her re-election chances. Cox’s district is the only district shrinking — she will be losing roughly 4,500 residents and one precinct. Council members opted for that plan, but were presented with an alternative that would have affected approximately 40,000 residents,

The remaining City Council members, Jim Seebock, Monica Larson, Dan Stewart and Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero, have all endorsed her opponent, Annette Dawson Owens, in the 2026 council race.

Romero denied the accusations. 

“Once again, this is categorically false information from Ms. Cox and her continued efforts to mislead our residents is shameful,” Romero said in a statement via email. “To suggest that this effort was politically motivated is false and slanderous to the hardworking staff that work diligently to ensure equal representation in our city.” 

The urban planner’s drawing board has become the latest site for political brawls across the country. Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abott pushed to redraw state lines in an off-cycle year to flip five House seats in their favor. In response, Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Kathy Hochul of New York have threatened to do the same. 

Several speakers at the meeting in Henderson mentioned fears of political gerrymandering.

Unlike Texas and California, the split in Henderson does not seem to be attributed to party lines: Cox and Romero are both affiliated with the Republican Party, according to Ballotpedia.