Down-ballot races heat up as aspiring officials compete for county commission, school board and city council seats across Nevada.

Although their candidacy does not become official until the filing period that begins March 4, candidates for local government offices have already begun fundraising.

Fifty years after moving to Las Vegas, the Goodmans are wrapping up a quarter of a century during which one or the other has been the city’s mayor.

Candidates agreed that public safety and keeping police funded was important to run a “world-class city,” and that addressing homelessness is one of the city’s major pressing concerns, with most of the speakers suggesting that people sleeping on sidewalks hurt business and tourism.

Her case also names the City of Las Vegas as a defendant, claiming the city acted to impede the investigation into Fiore’s assault, including destroying video evidence, and failed to protect Seaman during the incident.

As two members move to pursue higher office, Las Vegas voters will decide in November which new faces they want to fill those pivotal city council positions and make decisions about development, public safety and the future of Nevada’s largest city.

Some might call that the perfect time to make a move for a jaw-dropping settlement: Make the big payout for fear of potentially being forced to pay an even larger one.

Here’s a look at how fundraising shook out in the first half of the year, and how financially prepared the winners of major local government races are for the November general election.

Republican Las Vegas attorneys Sigal Chattah and Tisha Black battle for the chance to face Democrat incumbent Aaron Ford in November for the title of Nevada’s “top cop.”

Down-ballot races often play a bigger role in the day-to-day life of communities with school boards setting education policy and municipal governments overseeing land use planning and business licensure.

Amid shifting demographics and a move to the Republican Party in states such as Florida and Texas, Latino voters and their political preferences are less predictable than ever before.

Some issues they likely will have to deal with — ranging from changes that may come with the outcome of Ballot Question 1, which will determine whether the elected board is put under the oversight of the Legislature per Assembly Joint Resolution No. 5 to unknown consequences from the continuing pandemic — are yet to be seen.

The law is also specific on making donations to PACs as a way to get around contribution limits, stating that it’s an illegal practice to “make a contribution to a committee for political action with the knowledge and intent that the (PAC) will contribute that money to a specific candidate which, in combination with the total contributions already made by the person for the same election, would violate the limitations on contributions.”

As the presidential caucus has drifted into the past and with no statewide offices up for grabs in 2020, a pair of hotly contested congressional primaries on June 9 may draw battle lines for the coming push by the major parties to take or keep control of the House in November.

Of the 42 seats in the state Assembly, almost a quarter will be decided in the primary election. Four races will actually be decided in the primary — including three incumbent Republicans fending off challengers — because no other candidates filed to run in those districts. Another five races will effectively be decided in the primary, given vast disparity in voter registration totals making it all but impossible for the opposing party to gain a foothold.

If you cover politics for any length of time, it’s easy to become irritated, even irritable.

Campaign payments made by Fiore’s PAC to a business owned by her daughter highlight Nevada’s loose laws and oversight on political spending, especially with no clear definition of “personal use” or guidance on how to avoid ethical conflicts when paying family members out of campaign funds.

Details from the 2019 contribution and expenses reports, due on Jan. 15, detailed how much legislative incumbents and candidates raised over the last calendar year and painted a more hopeful picture for Republicans in several “swing” Assembly races, with a more mixed view in competitive state Senate seats.

The Las Vegas City Council passed a controversial ordinance Wednesday that makes sleeping or camping in downtown Las Vegas a misdemeanor crime, capping a weeks-long debate over a law that critics have charged would effectively criminalize homelessness in the city’s urban core and has become a cause célèbre among Democratic candidates for the White House.

Back in the dime bag days, the shadowed alley off Sahara Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard ran behind Honest John’s and the Jolly Trolley, a pair of gaudy grind joints. The Trolley is best remembered for the mob guys who skimmed its slots and fought over nickels and dimes on their way to prison.