The Case for Kate Marshall: Why Reno Needs Change in the Mayor’s Office
Three Candidates. One Question: Who Brings Something New to Reno’s Leadership?
Reno’s 2026 mayoral race presents voters with a clear choice. Two of the leading candidates — Kathleen Taylor and Devon Reese — are already members of the Reno City Council. The third major candidate, Kate Marshall, brings something the council currently lacks: a completely different professional skill set and political network.
The question voters should ask is simple:
What does each candidate bring to the Mayor’s office that Reno does not already have? The answer is clear.
Kate and her husband share a moment after she filed to run for Reno Mayor.
The mayor and council members have the same vote.
Under Reno’s council-manager form of government, the Mayor does not run city operations. The city manager does.
The Mayor and the six council members each have one vote.
That means:
A council member already has the same legislative power as the Mayor
Becoming Mayor does not change the vote count or the influence
If Devon Reese or Kathleen Taylor believes the city needs different policies, they can advocate for them today. They have had years to make a difference already.
One wonders why they are running for Mayor. What will they do as Mayor that they can’t already do? If they don’t win the Mayor’s race, they keep their council seats.
Voting for Reese or Taylor is a throwaway vote because they don’t bring anything new.
I know that there is a 4th candidate, but I don’t think that he is serious about running.
The Mayor has influence.
In Reno’s council-manager system, the Mayor’s influence comes less from formal authority and more from position. The Mayor presides over City Council meetings, helps shape the agenda in coordination with the city manager, and serves as the city’s primary public voice with business leaders, regional partners, and the media.
Because the Mayor represents the entire city rather than a single ward, the office carries symbolic weight in negotiations, public messaging, and coalition-building among council members.
A mayor who is effective at framing issues, building consensus, and representing Reno externally can steer priorities and accelerate initiatives even though the Mayor ultimately holds only one vote on the council.
As a representative, Kate Marshall has proven experience, having served as Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, in the legislature, as state treasurer, and in a national office.
Reese and Taylor are on the Reno City Council; they don’t bring the outside experience needed to fix Reno’s problems, the largest of which is the deficit.
Kathleen Taylor has been running a mild campaign featuring videos of her with business owners that she posts to her 179 Facebook followers. She has some yard signs and a billboard; however, she has taken a fair number of donors and donations away from Reese.
Reno’s biggest problem right now is financial management
Reno faces several serious fiscal challenges:
structural budget pressures
long-term debt obligations
infrastructure financing
redevelopment commitments
Kate Marshall brings something none of the current council members possess:
Deep financial experience.
As former Nevada State Treasurer, Marshall managed billions of dollars in state investments and debt programs. That role required:
bond market expertise
financial restructuring
long-term fiscal planning
negotiation with lenders and rating agencies
Those are precisely the skills needed when a city faces financial stress.
RGJ: Reno should bring back a Fourth of July parade | George ‘Eddie’ Lorton
In this opinion article, Eddie Lorton says he wants a parade but admits he doesn’t have the pull to get the idea on the agenda, then blames others for his failure, a familiar pattern.
Marshall brings state-level political connections.
Cities rarely solve major financial problems on their own.
They often need cooperation from the state government for:
infrastructure funding
housing programs
transportation projects
legislative authority
Marshall served as Nevada’s Lieutenant Governor and State Treasurer.
That means she already has working relationships with:
Nevada legislators
state agency leaders
statewide political networks
Those relationships can help Reno secure resources that a purely local political figure may struggle to obtain.
Reese has not demonstrated financial responsibility. Do we want to trust him to fix Reno’s budget problems?
Marshall also brings federal connections
That experience provides something Reno may soon need: federal access.
Issues such as:
rail corridor negotiations
infrastructure grants
federal transportation funding
regulatory coordination with agencies
often require direct engagement with federal officials.
A mayor who understands how federal agencies operate — and who knows people inside those institutions — can be far more effective.
Kate Marshall has shown that she has the financial backing to see the race to the end.
The same political circle has governed Reno for over a decade
Reno’s political leadership has been largely shaped by the same local networks since roughly 2012.
Many council members have emerged through the same pathways:
local appointments
internal political networks
similar donor circles
Electing another sitting council member as Mayor would continue that pattern.
It would also allow the new Mayor to appoint a replacement council member, extending the same political network even further.
That may be comfortable for the current political establishment, but voters should ask whether Reno would benefit from new perspectives.
The Reno City Council has consistently replaced vacated seats with insiders and not held elections for replacements. We don’t need another insider appointment if Reese or Taylor wins.
What voters should really be deciding
The Mayor’s office does not run city departments. It cannot veto legislation. It cannot control the city staff.
But a mayor can do something important:
represent Reno in negotiations with the outside world.
The question voters should ask is:
“Who brings skills and connections that Reno does not already have?”
In that respect, Kate Marshall offers something different: financial expertise, statewide relationships, and federal experience.
Those are tools that could help Reno navigate the complex financial and infrastructure challenges ahead.
Here is the link to Kate’s website: https://kateforreno.com/
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You are exactly right. Marshall will break the chain and create a new dynamic.
Let's all vote for Kate. She's the least "insider" and most "outsider." Let's take a shot.
It's easy to identify the entrenched insider mayoral candidates who have ALREADY had their turn at "fixing everything" (aka had their seat at the table, or put another way, their time feeding at the public trough.) That would be longtime "public servants" Taylor and Reese who as Mike points out will STILL retain their City Council seats even if they lose their bid to become Mayor. But no sense elevating them higher on the swamp org chart.
If Kate's expertise is predominately in high finance, I'm all for that. Follow the money honey!
Let's not make stupid decisions in Reno. Stupid decisions have consequences. Overall Reno is wonderful on the surface. But we don't have our sh*t together on: the budget, the homeless, sensible development, transportation, housing and more.
Can bad decisions lead to worsening quality of life? YUP! Can Reno get better? Sure. But it takes tough, prudent leadership, not "go-along and get-along" impractical dreamers and swampies.
Kate doesn't have to arrive with Trumpian fire and brimstone. I'd be overjoyed to elect a tough, no nonsense lady with a highly effective brain.
HEY KATE? Are you listening? Mike's Reno Report has a huge audience of readers with brains! He just all but ENDORSED you! Maybe give him a call....