Meet the council candidates running in Henderson's most-watched local government race

Henderson City Council Member Carrie Cox made headlines last year after she was charged with a felony for secretly recording a colleague's conversation. She was also involved in several public controversies, including spats with other city council members that led to her formal censure. 

That's not deterring her from running in arguably the most-watched contest on the ballot in Henderson local government. When asked what her plans for office were if she was re-elected to the Ward III council seat, Cox was resolute. 

"I will be re-elected," she told The Nevada Independent with a laugh. Cox has said that all allegations against her are "political" in nature and asserts her innocence. 

The women running against her — Jennifer Atlas and Annette Dawson Owens — aren't so sure. 

"That's my representation in the city council right now," Atlas said about Cox. "I don't find that acceptable." 

Though Cox is an elected official, she's a political outsider in Henderson. In contrast, Owens is endorsed by Mayor Michelle Romero and the rest of the city council. 

Owens and Cox have each raised roughly $100,000. Atlas does not have publicly available filing information yet. 

Because it's a nonpartisan race, Atlas, Cox and Owens will all be running against each other in the primary, though Atlas is a Democrat while the other two are Republicans. If elected, Atlas would be the only Democrat on the council. The primary will winnow the field to two, although a candidate could win the seat outright if they get more than 50 percent of the vote.

The Ward III contest is not the only race this cycle that will determine membership of the five-person Henderson City Council — the mayor is running for re-election against former police chief Hollie Chadwick as well as Democrat Adam Price — but it is the race being talked about the most, with some residents calling the media storm around the city council "embarrassing." 

Read more to find out more about the candidates and where they stand on issues facing Henderson, which is among the most safe and affluent communities in the state but has struggled with labor disputes and come under fire for its role in immigration detention. 

The candidates

All the candidates, including Cox, who lost a run for her council seat in 2017 before winning in 2022, have an unsuccessful run for office under their belt. Owens narrowly lost to Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson) while Atlas lost to state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson) in 2024. 

Though not elected, Owens has experience in government, serving on Henderson's Community Education Advisory Board for three mayors. She was also appointed to the State Board of Education by Gov. Joe Lombardo (R). 

For the past five years, Owens has been the policy director for the Children's Advocacy Alliance. She said education and child advocacy are top priorities. Owens said her family, which has a background in farming, has been in Henderson since she was 4 years old. Her father, Kent Dawson, is a sitting federal judge while her mother is a retired teacher. 

Apart from Romero and the rest of the council, Owens' major endorsements include Boulder City Mayor Joe Hardy and the Southern Nevada Building Trades Union. 

Before being elected to office, Cox worked as a kindergarten teacher and a reading interventionist at Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon. She operates a daycare with her husband, which has been the subject of some controversy, and has worked as a family law paralegal. She also served on the Clark County Community Development Advisory Committee and the Henderson Blue Ribbon Education Commission. 

Cox has lived in Henderson for 33 years and has seven children with her husband, who is an Air Force veteran. She said her focus is on advocating for the residents of Ward III. Her endorsements include Fraternal Order of Police and NevadansCAN. 

Atlas, who is originally from Colorado, moved to Las Vegas in 2006 to work as a ballroom dancer and eventually transitioned to the hospitality industry.

Atlas works as a government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and has advocated for health care issues. In the last legislative session, she was involved in the development of SB138, a bill that requires Nevada hospitals to presumptively enroll eligible pregnant women in Medicaid.

She has been endorsed by Teamsters Nevada and said labor should be more broadly discussed in Henderson. Atlas has also been endorsed by Sen. Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas), the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus, former Gov. Steve Sisolak as well as the Henderson Police Supervisors Association. 

Public safety 

All three candidates cited public safety as a top priority. Henderson is one of the safest cities in the country, and crime has fallen after a slight uptick during the pandemic. 

Cox called for more support for law enforcement and lamented the extended negotiations police officers had with the city over pay. An impasse that started last summer finally ended in February, leading to a 3.5 percent pay increase, giving them a higher salary ceiling than the Las Vegas police force but a lower one than North Las Vegas police officers, according to job post listings. During the negotiations, Henderson officers' holiday pay was docked, something Cox spoke out against. 

"Our work is not done," Cox said. "That is going to be taking care of our police officers. They should never have had to fight to get paid fair wages." 

Though the Fraternal Order of Police have endorsed her, the Henderson Police Officers Association (HPOA)  rescinded their endorsement of her last year. The HPOA also withdrew its endorsement of council member Monica Larson last year and has not decided to support anyone in the Ward III race yet. 

Atlas said "collaboration" between city council and the police department was critical and that the department needed support. 

Owens said she wanted to continue focusing on keeping the high quality of the police force. She said it was important to educate young people on how officers and firefighters are a resource in the community. 

She would like to see a pipeline between high schools and law enforcement programs to ensure that solid officers and first responders stayed in the community and were supported locally. 

Immigration 

Henderson's ongoing contract to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees in its jail has attracted protests, especially this winter when the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis came under sharp criticism. 

ICE was paying for 93 beds at the Henderson Detention Center as of November last year, though it might not have been paying enough to cover costs. ICE provides less than 10 percent of jail revenue, even though ICE detainees make up nearly a quarter of the jail's population.

Atlas thinks the city should renegotiate the contract, and said other cities should step up to take on the burden of holding detainees. 

"What I understand is that the [memorandum of understanding] is not financially viable for the city and it just doesn't make sense for the city anymore," Atlas said when asked about the contract. 

In an interview with The Indy, Cox said she couldn't share the details of the negotiation with ICE, nor did she comment on if the contract should continue, but had a simple statement about standing with the police department and the police chief on the issue. 

Working alongside immigrants as a child on a farm, Owens said she understands the value immigrants bring to the community. She said if immigrants are detained, they deserve to be treated respectfully and fairly. 

However, she said she supports the law, police and keeping Henderson safe. She declined to comment on the specifics of the contract with ICE, saying she would need to know more details. 

Affordability and development 

With rising gas prices, home prices and lingering effects of high inflation, Americans have been feeling a pinch in their wallets. That includes Henderson residents, candidates say. The average rent price for any type of home sits at $2,200 per month, according to Zillow, which is $200 higher than the company's estimate for rent prices nationwide. 

"People are worried about affordability, they're worried about stability," Atlas said. "They want to make sure their jobs are secure." 

Cox said she's focused on the ways in which council members can actually help. She pointed out that she was the sole council member to vote against a water rate increase in 2023. 

"We can do nothing about the grocery prices," Cox said. "We can do nothing about gas prices, and we can't do anything about bringing down insurance prices. We have to focus on the municipal level." 

Candidates said reasonably paced development was another focus for them. The city was considered the third fastest-growing city in the country in the decade that went through 2023.

Owens and Cox pointed to affordable housing development as a way to bring down the cost of living. Owens said the Sunrise Ranch affordable housing project created by Nevada Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) last year — with state and local government support and rental subsidies for some occupants — was a good example for the city to follow. 

Education 

Municipalities have taken a greater role in the education sphere in recent years. In 2024, Henderson became a charter school authorizer, approving its first school in 2025. A Henderson mayoral candidate proposed in 2022 that cities be allowed to break away from the Clark County School District, although the measure didn't qualify for the ballot.

Owens said a focus of hers on the education advisory board was creating a workforce pipeline for young students by creating internship programs with local businesses. She said she's witnessed young people graduate from high school  while feeling disconnected from the community or with mental health issues. A priority of hers was to fix that. 

"If kids are engaged, they're doing good things, they're giving back to the community," Owens said. "So that's important to keeping our community safe." 

On whether the district should break away from CCSD, Owens said the issue was complicated and would likely take years to implement, though she understood parents' frustrations with the size of the district. She said her focus was on what the city could deliver while staying open to "larger structural changes" if the state made it possible. 

Cox said she pushed for an early development childhood center in Ward III. She's also in support of charter schools and voted alongside the rest of the council for Henderson to become a charter school authorizer. In a text message to The Indy, Cox said she is a supporter of Henderson withdrawing from CCSD. 

Atlas, who served on the Henderson Blue Ribbon Commission for Education, as did Cox, said a lot of the funding for education comes from the state but she wants to work hand-in-hand with educators and the Legislature on issues. When asked to elaborate, Atlas said she would like to be a voice to inform state lawmakers about Henderson issues. 

Atlas did not directly answer whether Henderson should withdraw from CCSD, but said she has advocated for smaller class sizes with licensed teachers in every classroom, and would "put our kids first" as a council member.