Published Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 | 9 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 | 3:15 p.m.
Assembly Democrats are endorsing a longtime union worker to fill a vacant seat in a district Democrats have largely controlled since 2012.
Venise Karris, a retired member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 367 who spent 27 years as a journeywoman electrician, has earned Democrats’ backing for Assembly District 10, according to a news release today from the conference.
Karris previously served on IBEW Local 357’s executive board and was a union steward for projects across Southern Nevada for nearly seven years.
“I am extremely honored and humbled to be endorsed by the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus in my campaign for Assembly District 10,” Karris said in a statement.
“As a member of IBEW 357, I spent my career fighting for working-class families all across Southern Nevada,” she said. “In my campaign for Assembly District 10, I look forward to connecting with voters and earning their support.”
As a journeyman, Karris has worked on several projects on the Las Vegas Strip and was a founding member of Local 357’s Women’s Committee, which emphasizes supporting female apprentices and keeping them in trades.
Karris notes in the news release that her campaign intends to focus on “protecting our freedoms,” lowering the cost of consumer goods, creating union jobs, fighting climate change and bolstering Nevada’s public schools.
Karris has lived in the district the last 28 years and has two children and two grandchildren.
“She has a decades-long history in the district, and I am confident she will connect with the residents of Assembly District 10 and bring a new perspective to the Legislature,” Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said in the release.
The post had been held by former Assemblywoman Sabra Smith Newby, who resigned in August to become a deputy city manager for Las Vegas. She was appointed to the Assembly in January after then-Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, also a Democrat, was appointed to the state Senate.
Assembly Democrats held a 28-14 supermajority during the last legislative session, but at least eight Democratic incumbents have announced they are not seeking reelection or are running for another office. That’s compared to two Assembly Republicans.
Assembly District 10 covers parts of Las Vegas and extends as far east as Interstate 15 and as far west as Cimarron Road, between Charleston Boulevard and Desert Inn Road.
In 2022, Nguyen defeated Republican challenger Sandie Hernandez by about 16.4 percentage points, or 2,802 votes.
Democrats have held that seat in every election since at least 2012, except for when Republican Shelly Shelton served one term from 2014-16.
Another lawmaker seeking local office
While Assembly Democrats have seemingly found their candidate for District 10, Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, D-Las Vegas, announced Tuesday she will forego reelection to pursue a seat on the Las Vegas City Council.
Summers-Armstrong, 59, is pursuing the Ward 5 seat, now held by Councilman Cedric Crear, who announced earlier this year he is running for Las Vegas mayor.
"As a resident of Ward 5 for over 24 years, my connection to the people here and their concerns is not new to me," Summers-Armstrong, who has served two terms in the Assembly, said in a statement. "I have deep roots in this community and a proven history of working with neighbors, activists, union members, and faith-based organizations to illuminate the residents’ issues that have been historically ignored."
Ward 5 includes the city’s historic west side, a historically Black district, as well as the Smith Center and Symphony Park. Summers-Armstrong said her ties to Ward 5 also include working as an activist to prevent the closure of F Street on the west side when city officials some 15 years ago mulled closing the walkway to expand Interstate 15.
Summers-Armstrong worked 26 years at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and was once an executive board member of Service Employees International Union Local 1107.
