Jim Seebock, an assistant sheriff with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, appears to have won the Henderson City Council Ward 1 special election. 

Although counting is expected to continue for several days as mail ballots trickle in, Thursday afternoon results from the Clark County Election Department shows that Seebock has a significant lead over his opponents.

Seebock was 6 percentage points ahead of Boulder City Police Cmdr. Aaron Johnson and former Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Woodbury. Johnson is less than 1 percentage point ahead of Woodbury.

Woodbury conceded Tuesday evening in a text message to The Nevada Independent. 

“It appears that Mr. Seebock will be the winner, and I want to congratulate him and wish him much success as our new City Councilman,” Woodbury said. “I’m taking a few days off now and look forward to spending time with family and loved ones. I am so grateful to my many supporters who believed in me.”

The top three candidates have significant leads over the other four who ran: Tim Cox (14.4 percent of the vote), Ali Nilson (11.8 percent), Alex Kleytman (5.8 percent) and Eddie Hamilton (nearly 1 percent). 

Monday was the last day for Ward 1 residents to mail in their ballots or cast their votes in person at Henderson City Hall. The seat was left vacant after former Councilwoman Michelle Romero became mayor in January. 

According to the Clark County Election Department, residents have until Sunday to “cure” their ballots — which means verifying their signature or correcting any mistakes on a mail-in ballot. Final results will be canvassed and made official during a special City Council meeting on April 13.

As of 2:22 p.m. Thursday, elections department records show that 781 residents cast their ballots during the three days of early voting, 984 cast their ballots Monday and 5,697 ballots were mailed in, for a total of 13.9 percent of registered voters in the ward.

Seebock, 48, is a longtime Henderson resident and has sat on the Parks and Recreation and Civil Service boards. He also graduated from Leadership Henderson, a leadership program sponsored by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. 

During his campaign, he earned an endorsement from Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill as well as the Henderson Chamber of Commerce and Laborer’s Local 872, a construction workers’ union based in Las Vegas. If elected, Seebock said he wants to prioritize dealing with issues of homelessness, development and rural neighborhood preservation within Henderson. 

Johnson, 50, moved to Nevada in 2005 to begin his law enforcement career, rising through the ranks until achieving his current position as the Boulder City police commander — a top-ranking position just below the police chief — in May 2021. Though he did not initially intend to run, he was convinced by a friend who worked at Henderson Police Department to help with public safety staffing. 

If elected, Johnson said he would like to bolster Henderson’s police and fire departments, focus on providing services for Henderson as it grows and separate Henderson from the Clark County School District (CCSD).

Woodbury, who is in her 50s, is the daughter of former longtime Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury. A former politician herself, Woodbury served in the Assembly from 2008-2018. She is also a retired teacher. Similar to the top two candidates, Woodbury would like to bolster public safety and services for Henderson, as well as break Henderson away from CCSD, according to her campaign website.

The new Ward I representative will be sworn into office April 18 before the regular City Council meeting. 

Updated 4/4/2023 at 5:09 p.m. to correct the spelling of Clark County Election Department. Updated at 4/4/2023 at 5:32 p.m. to include Woodbury’s comment on the election. Updated 4/6/2023 at 4:10 p.m. to declare Jim Seebock the winner.