In competitive Nevada state senate race, a prolific lawmaker faces a newcomer with momentum

First elected in 2022, Sen. Julie Pazina (D-Las Vegas) has a reputation for being one of the Legislature's busiest members — and the data would agree. In 2023, she passed the most bills out of any freshman legislator. In 2025, The Las Vegas Review-Journal ranked her as the state's second most successful legislator, noting that of the 14 bills she sponsored that session, about 80 percent became law. 

But with the election season's volatile political winds, being an effective lawmaker may not cinch victory. A challenge from a small-business owner with some notable endorsements makes the race for this southeast seat one of the most competitive this season.

After narrowly losing to Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) in 2024, Rafael Arroyo (R) is now returning to challenge Pazina to represent this southeast Las Vegas Senate district. Arroyo highlights his bona fides as a business owner and father. Pazina points to her legislative record and ties her opponent to the policies of the Trump administration.

Arroyo said he's a more relatable candidate than Pazina. As a small-business owner, he said he understands the need to keep taxes low and the pressure of trying to make ends meet. Part of the reason he said he is running for office is because he believes Nevada is headed in the "wrong direction," becoming increasingly unaffordable and plagued by "soft on crime policies." 

"I built a business here. I'm raising my kids here," Arroyo said in an interview. "I'm going to deal with the consequences of policy decisions."

Pazina contends that her track record as a legislator makes her more qualified than Arroyo, pointing out that her former role as chair of the Nevada Tourism Caucus makes her uniquely suited to represent the Las Vegas area.  

"He talks about wanting to do the job. I have done the job for four years now, and very successfully," she said. 

According to an Indy analysis, the race between Pazina and Arroyo is expected to be the most competitive Senate race this cycle. Democrats only have a voter registration advantage of 3.2 percentage points over Republicans in the district, while nonpartisans make up about 36 percent. The district, located in the southeast part of the Las Vegas Valley, was held by a Republican about five years ago. Pazina flipped it blue in 2022 with a margin of 5 percentage points. 

So far, Pazina has vastly outraised Arroyo. In the most recent quarter, she had nearly $419,000 cash on hand in comparison to the $98,364 Arroyo had. Still, Arroyo has managed to pick up high-profile endorsements, including from Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and the backing of Minority Leader Robin Titus (R-Wellington.) Pazina has scored endorsements from the politically powerful Clark County Education Association, Nevada Resort Association, and Teamsters Nevada.

Meet the Candidates

During her legislative career, Pazina has emphasized her Jewish background, passing a bill in the most recent session to establish an International Holocaust Remembrance Day and another measure to prevent homeowners associations from banning Jewish cultural displays. She also sponsored a bill to ban individuals convicted of a hate crime from owning firearms, but it was vetoed by Lombardo.

Pazina, who grew up in Atlanta, said her interest in politics began at 11 years old after experiencing episodes of antisemitism. Some of her earliest memories, she said, include seeing the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) walking toward her family's car and finding antisemitic paraphernalia in her school locker. She recalled one incident when a friend's uncle said he "had planned to come after me" but didn't because of their friendship.

"It really did shape my life, and I remember feeling so voiceless," Pazina said. "I wanted to have a voice."

Pazina moved to the Las Vegas area in 2002 to be closer to her grandfather. She currently serves as the national director of sales at Edlen Electrical Exhibition Services, a Las-Vegas based business that provides power for trade shows, conventions and special events. 

Arroyo appreciates Las Vegas for its economic opportunities, too. Originally from Puerto Rico, his family moved to Las Vegas when he was 6. The Arroyos originally wanted to move to California, but it was too expensive for them.

"We ended up in Las Vegas, and I am extremely blessed … that they made that decision because I've been able to build a life here," he said. "We are actually really lucky to be … in the United States of America. And I think a lot of people may lose a little bit of sight of that."

In 2008, Arroyo established Smog Plus, an emissions repair and Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) service business that helps people handle DMV transactions without having to go in person. In 2018, the DMV in Las Vegas eliminated a "stand-by" window for third-party businesses such as Arroyo's. In response to that decision, in 2019 he helped craft AB288, a bill that required DMV offices in large counties to restore those stand-by windows.

"That showed me how important it is to have an elected official at the right place, at the right time," Arroyo said. 

Candidates' framing

Pazina has criticized Arroyo for supporting parts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping piece of federal legislation backed by the Trump administration. In a recent campaign ad, she said that Arroyo "praised the law that increased insurance premiums," referencing the act. She said that her constituents frequently raise concerns about how the bill will affect them, including sweeping Medicaid cuts set to go into effect in 2027.

Pazina's campaign ad refers to a video that Arroyo posted on his Instagram where he praised "no tax on tips," tax cuts for businesses and increased border security that came from the federal bill. He did not mention insurance premiums in the video and said that the bill had "good" and "bad" parts. 

Arroyo said that Pazina's campaign is trying to force a "national message" into a local race. Although Arroyo appeared at campaign events with President Donald Trump during the 2024 race, he said that he doesn't have a relationship with the president and has "nothing to do with what the president is doing." 

He added that he is not fully in agreement with all of Trump's policies, including a provision from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reducing the amount of gambling losses people can deduct at tax time. 

"I'm not here to debate a federal bill, and I just think it shows where [the Pazina campaign's] position is because they don't have local issues to attack me on," Arroyo said. "So they're trying to tie me to the national picture and ride that sentiment, but I believe it's disingenuous."

On the policies: 

The Nevada Independent is taking a new approach to inform readers about the candidates running for state Legislature: A survey asking candidates to rate their agreement with a series of policy statements, with the option to elaborate on their answers. 

Use the tool below to see how the SD12 candidates responded. (Note: Pazina did not respond to the survey.)