Carson City's Assembly seat is open. Meet the candidates in a spirited 4-way GOP primary.

A new face will represent Carson City's Nevada Assembly seat next year, and it's attracted a spirited four-way Republican primary that will serve as a test of the power of Gov. Joe Lombardo's endorsement.

Assm. P.K. O'Neill (R-Carson City) announced last year he would retire from representing Assembly District 40, which includes the state capital and Storey County, Nevada's technology epicenter with Tesla's gigafactory and several data centers.

It spurred candidacies from four Republicans and one Democrat, Oscar Fuentes. Because the district has a heavy Republican lean in voter registration, it is likely the June GOP primary winner will prevail in November's general election.

Despite Democrats holding 27 of the 42 Assembly seats, a Republican assemblymember can still get laws passed. O'Neill had three bills signed last year, fifth most among his GOP peers.

Republicans vying for the seat include Julie Butler, the former head of the Nevada DMV endorsed by Lombardo and O'Neill, and Stacy Woodbury, a Southwest Gas public affairs manager with a long history of government service, including time as former Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons' (R) deputy chief of staff.

Also in the race is Drew Ribar, a conservative activist and businessman who has frequently sued Northern Nevada governments. One prominent failed suit was when he attempted to record videos of Drag Queen Story Hour at Washoe County libraries. He ran for the same seat two years ago, receiving about 22 percent of the vote in the primary.

Also running in the Republican primary is Rich Harvey, the former chief of the Central Lyon County Fire Protection District.

Woodbury has sizable leads in cash on hand and money raised in 2026, though she also loaned her campaign $10,000. Butler is second in both categories.

Ribar and Harvey, on the other hand, have each raised less than $1,000 from sources other than themselves.

Read more below on the candidates and where they stand on certain issues.

Who are the candidates?

Butler worked for the state government for 30 years until her retirement in 2024. She was a division administrator for the Department of Public Safety and the director of the DMV during the pandemic.

A driving factor in her decision to run, she said, was the September assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.

"If there's a whole generation of people out there that feel like violence is the way to solve our political disagreements, then we've really failed," the 56-year-old said.

Woodbury is the manager of public affairs at Southwest Gas. She previously worked across many sectors of state government, including stints with the Legislative Counsel Bureau, secretary of state's office, Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Commission on Ethics.

"I think I have a unique balance," she said. "I know the legislative process and the budget process very well, but I also know … what it's like when laws are passed that impact you as a business."

The 53-year-old is married to Jason Woodbury, a district court judge in Carson City, which handles cases on state and election laws. Asked about potential conflicts of interest, she noted that the Legislature has been a party in only five cases before the court since 2007 and that she would check potential conflicts of interest with legislative lawyers.

Ribar, 57, used to have a family towing company and is now a YouTube personality who highlights what he calls rampant government misconduct and corruption in Nevada.

"All the people in the Legislature, generally speaking, are retired government employees or attorneys," Ribar said. "I think they're beholden to others, or they're not in a life situation where they're the average guy."

Ribar has filed multiple lawsuits, including one against Butler, alleging the DMV has gone after his towing company after he criticized the agency. He also filed one over not being allowed to be a registered lobbyist and journalist at the Legislature. That suit has been partially dismissed and is pending appeal.

He was also hit with a restraining order against attorneys he was suing related to Washoe County's Drag Queen Story Hour, and he has been accused of harassing library employees — allegations he has denied.

Harvey, 65, was previously the deputy state forester before a long stint as leading the Central Lyon County Fire Department. He touted himself as the "non-establishment" candidate who embodies the role of a "citizen legislator" and says he can help Republicans make headwinds in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Leading up to his retirement as fire chief, he faced an ethics dispute after he negotiated a new contract through his own LLC where he would continue providing fire chief services during the search for his replacement, ultimately receiving more than $100,000 through this contract.

However, the state ethics commission determined he violated state law because he negotiated a contract for himself while he was still employed. He was fined $10,000.

Harvey told The Indy that the contract was intended to save the agency money by not paying out certain retirement benefits. He called the dispute "much ado about nothing and very politically motivated," alleging it was brought by someone who had issues with his tenure as fire chief.

Splits on tax breaks for data centers

Nevada has a tax abatement program for data centers, and many of those companies are based in Storey County and Assembly District 40. They have collectively received an estimated $345 million in tax breaks since 2015 alongside the promise of about 400 permanent jobs.

Woodbury supports the idea of the tax breaks, calling them "good tools to try to get businesses to locate here."

"Once that abatement period has ended, the local government and/or the state, depending on who it is, will actually receive that revenue," she said.

But the other candidates disagreed.

"In order for me to support them, it really has to pencil out," Butler said.

Ribar said he opposes any kind of abatements to large companies, while Harvey said there needs to be a "net positive" for any kind of tax break.

"Data centers are hard for me to see as a net positive," he said.

Noncommittal on property tax changes

Local governments, which rely heavily on property tax revenues, are struggling across the state, and only the Legislature has the power to increase caps on property tax rates.

The Carson City School District, which is part of Assembly District 40, is pursuing potential layoffs amid declining tax revenues. 

Last year, lawmakers failed to advance an amendment to the Nevada Constitution to have taxable values of property reset upon the selling of a home.

None of the GOP candidates expressly supported that change. Woodbury said it would worsen Nevadans' ability to buy homes, but she said lawmakers should look closer at changes to the state law that allows taxable property value to depreciate for up to 50 years — the only state with such an arrangement.

Butler and Harvey said they did not want to take a position on proposals that they have not read fully.

On the other hand, Ribar said he is interested in a proposal from Florida that eliminates all non-school property taxes. He said money is being wasted in the state government and that those dollars could instead make up revenue losses from eliminating property taxes.

"I don't see any need to raise taxes," he said. "I think that we're taxed enough, and that's not anything that I would really consider doing."

Support for state workers

Because the district includes the seat of state government in Carson City, it has a high share of state workers. In interviews with The Indy, the candidates largely agreed that more should be done to help state workers, who are facing big health insurance premium increases and whose collectively bargained raises were not approved during the 2025 Legislature. 

Woodbury said lawmakers have "taken some good steps" to make salaries more competitive, and that the Legislature should look at things "holistically" when determining changes in state worker pay during economic downturns.

Butler, meanwhile, thinks state workers have long been "an afterthought" at the Legislature. Even when there are raises, they are often accompanied by increases in retirement contributions and health insurance costs.

To address state worker shortages, Butler said the state should be looking at using technology to streamline processes, such as the state employment agency's use of AI to speed up unemployment appeals.

"If the workers aren't there to do the work, then you're going to increasingly have to look at alternative solutions," Butler said.

Unions that represent state correctional officers and state troopers have endorsed Butler. The largest state workers union — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4041 — endorsed Fuentes, the lone Democrat in the race.

Harvey said he supports state worker unions.

"It's a good thing unions have a place in our workforce," he said.

Ribar said he supports the premise of collective bargaining, but not the specific state worker unions in Nevada.

"If you look at who the unions have endorsed, they pretty much endorse people that are corrupt," he said.