Reno Ward Confusion and Possibilities

A recap of our recent reporting plus bonus content.

May 03, 2024

We’ve gotten several comments from readers recently confused about the new wards which will come into play for the current primary cycle with voting finishing up June 11th.

To be clear, we are going from five wards with an at-large seat, to six without an at-large representative.

Councilwoman Meghan Ebert is in Ward 4, which lost some of its liberal leaning southern upper university area, which could make her re-election more difficult come 2026.

Naomi Duerr remains for now as the representative in Ward 2, but she is running in the middle of her term for State Senate District 15, with a tough matchup against Angie Taylor, the outgoing assembly representative for District 27.

If Duerr were to win, that would possibly set up another dreaded appointment process to fill her seat. Her Ward 2 lost its southern parts and was shifted mostly into the current Ward 1.

The three reconfigured wards up for grab in this election cycle are 1, 3 and 5, with three current council members initially appointed to the body, rather than elected, all running in separate wards. At-large councilman Devon Reese is going for Ward 5, currently represented by Kathleen Taylor.

Taylor is now running for Ward 1 which combines the old core of Reno, with its downtown, university and 4th street areas.

Miguel Martinez, currently serving Ward 3, is running to win the same ward but reconfigured, having lost most of its northern part to the new Ward 1.

The new Ward 6, with all new candidates, is in South Reno, replacing much of the former Ward 2.

How these new geographies will play out with the primaries remains to be seen, with a slew of candidates and challengers vying to make the two-person November runoffs.

In our montage visual, candidates Tara Webster (Ward 5), Lily Baran (Ward 1) and William Mantle (Ward 6) posing with Ebert at a recent local political event would very much like to become a force of four, refusing to just say yes to any development project coming in front of council.

Ebert has already been joining outgoing Ward 1 representative Jenny Brekhus in taking more measured and careful looks into what the equally outgoing very few questions asked big business regime of Doug Thornley prepares.

That system began to crack recently though when the Council decided not to immediately sell the former CAC shelter to Bash Capital, as Thornley was working on.

The generally pro Thornley incumbents, as in many recent local races, have a massive upper hand in large donations coming from developers and casinos, but ultimately it will be the voters who decide who gets to face off come November for our reconfigured city council.