Republican Incumbent state Sen. Carrie Buck, Democratic challenger Jennifer Atlas.
The Democrat challenging the Republican incumbent in one of the state’s most competitive legislative districts says the race isn’t about the quest for a supermajority, but about the incumbent’s ineffectiveness as a lawmaker.
The State Senate District 5 race between Republican state Sen. Carrie Buck and Democratic challenger Jennifer Atlas is expected to be one of the closest this cycle and may determine whether Democrats have the power to override Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s vetoes, of which there have been dozens.
Buck won the seat in 2020 by just 329 votes — the closest state senate race that year. The district, which covers parts of Henderson and unincorporated Clark County, was redistricted by Democrats in 2021 but remains highly competitive. Voter registration in the district largely mirrors the state at large — 31% Democrats, 30.2% Republican, and 30.8% nonpartisan.
Atlas, in an interview with the Current, downplayed talk of her party achieving a supermajority, saying “that’s a Carson City conversation, not a frontdoor conversation” that voters are interested in.
What voters want, she continued, is a representative that gets things done and “(Buck) hasn’t accomplished anything.”
None of the bills sponsored by Buck during the 2021 and 2023 session were passed by the Legislature. Most never even received a committee hearing. Democrats control the Legislature, which means they decide which bills receive hearings and their support is needed for anything to advance, but the other seven members of the Senate Republican Caucus sponsored legislation that made it to the governor’s desk last year.
Atlas, a competitive ballroom dancer and teacher turned paralegal and lobbyist, says she is already prepared to sponsor legislation that can get bipartisan support. She has vowed to sponsor a bill that would automatically enroll into Nevada Medicaid any baby who enters the neonatal intensive care unit. Currently, NICU babies are eligible for Medicaid but their parents must actively fill out the paperwork.
Atlas says she didn’t realize this a decade ago when her son was born and spent 20 days in the NICU. She declined to fill out the paperwork — “I was dealing with so many things,” she recalled. She later found herself with medical bills totalling half a million dollars, which she had to fight.
She has named the proposed legislation after her son, Beau: babies enrolled automatically.
“I’m a mom, looking at the same struggles as my neighbors,” said Atlas. “I want kids to get a good education. I worry about his safety when I send him to school. I know what a carton of eggs costs because I have to pay attention to the prices. I have to pay attention to the household budget. I understand my district and I want to fight for them.”
Buck agreed to a phone interview with the Current but canceled on the day of. She did not respond to requests to reschedule.
Buck is president of the Pinecrest Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the six Pinecrest Academy charter schools in Southern Nevada. She is also adjunct faculty at several colleges. Buck is the mother of four — two adults and two in high school — and married to a Henderson police captain, according to her campaign website.
Education has been the focus of many of the bills Buck has sponsored. Among them was a 2021 proposal to fund charter school facilities through a corporate tax credit program and a proposal to put low-performing schools into receivership. Her campaign website lists health care, taxes & spending, and ethics as other legislative priorities.
Controversial comments
Democrats have also attacked Buck for asking in an early morning social media post, “How do any Jewish Americans continue to support the Democrat party?” That comment was attached to a retweet of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for putting “more pressure on Israel than Hamas.”
Democrats have characterized it as a “dangerous antisemitic trope” that suggests Jewish Americans have dual loyalties to the U.S. and to Israel.
“This is the same person who equated the right to choose with the atrocities committed by Nazis—a comparison that is both historically ignorant and deeply offensive,” said Atlas, who is Jewish, in a statement. “To imply that Jewish people cannot support the Democratic Party because we are guided by our moral compass, love of justice, and dedication to equality, is beyond insulting.
Atlas was referring to a 2023 social media post where Buck explained her opposition to Senate Joint Resolution 7, which proposes enshrining in the state constitution a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” (That proposal is broader than Question 6, the ballot measure currently being considered by Nevada voters. SJR7 will return to the Legislature next year for consideration and, if passed by lawmakers again, would appear before voters for approval in 2026.) In the post, Buck said she was told after an amniocentesis test that her son would have spina bifida and that she could get an abortion. Buck did not get an abortion and her son does not have spina bifida.
“I can’t imagine ripping a baby limb from limb out of his/her mother based on a test,” she wrote. “I think Hitler did that in his reign.”
Buck has previously been criticized by the Nevada GOP and extreme anti-abortion rights advocates for voting in favor of legislation to prohibit the State of Nevada from assisting in the arrest or extradition of someone charged in another state for a crime related to reproductive health care services such as abortion, unless that crime is also a crime in Nevada.
Buck was one of two Republicans in the Legislature to break with their party and vote with Democrats to support the bill. Lombardo, a Republican, signed the bill into law.
Campaign finance
Buck had raised more for her campaign than Atlas, as of June 30. Buck had raised $227,000 in the first half of the year; Atlas raised $155,000.
Buck’s top contributor was Ben Horowitz, a venture capitalist who lives in Las Vegas. He donated $10,000 to Buck’s campaign, as did his wife, Felicia Horowitz. Other top contributors include: Nevada Gold Mines, Las Vegas Sands Corp, Boyd Gaming, South Point Hotel & Casino, Station Casinos, Golden Entertainment, Zuffa, Keystone Corporation, and the Lombardo-aligned Better Nevada PAC.
Atlas’ top contributor was PAC for America’s Future Nevada, which gave $10,000. Other top contributors include: AFSCME Local 4041, Emily’s List, IBEW Local Union 357, several national PACs focused on electing Democrats, and several PACs connected to fellow Democratic state legislators.