Air Force vet running to unseat Clark County commissioner
Air Force veteran and practicing medical doctor Jonathan Maxham has launched a campaign to unseat Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson in the 2026 elections.
“I was an underdog last time,” Maxham told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about his 2024 campaign for the Nevada Board of Regents. “This time I’m the underdog again, but you always have to play the game see how the chips fall.”
With about 38,000 votes cast for Maxham during that November nonpartisan race, he fell about 18,000 ballots short to unseat incumbent Regent Amy Carvalho, with a final tally of 60 to 40 percent.
County Commission races are partisan and Maxham is running as a Republican. However, he said in an interview that he doesn’t see issues as a “red and blue thing.”
“I feel with my experience in the military, as well as with small business, and now a father of two that I can get some common sense solutions to some problems that exist in our community,” Maxham said.
As a newcomer, Maxham, 44, said he would offer a fresh perspective.
“I would bring change and new eyes,” he said. “My opponent is the past,” he added.
For his part, Gibson confirmed to the Review-Journal on Tuesday that he’s running for re-election for a third and final bid before he terms out.
“I don’t know his name and don’t know anything about him,” Gibson said about his opponent.
Gibson, an attorney, was Henderson mayor from 1997 until 2009. He was elected to the commission in 2018 and won re-election four years later.
Former Commission Chair Gibson’s District G encompasses parts of southeast Las Vegas and east Henderson.
The two-week candidate filing period opens in March.
On the issues
Asked how he would approach the county’s critical shortage of affordable housing, Maxham acknowledged that he’s still familiarizing himself with the county’s pressing issues and how the commission operates.
He said he wants to be the voice for veterans, medical professionals and first responders. He wants the county to address homelessness and mental health issues from “a public health and community service standpoint.”
Maxham said he would support initiatives that help small business owners.
To diversify the economy, Maxham said he would advocate to expand the health care industry.
“I imagine health care in Vegas can become a staple for more growth,” he said. “I think with better care we can put Nevada, Las Vegas and Henderson, especially, on the map.”
Maxham said that public funding for Formula One “and a couple of other decisions” were not done in the best interest of the county.
He said his platform will also center around government transparency, protecting tax dollars and “medical freedom and personal liberty.”
Maxham said life in Clark County in 2020, amid COVID-19-related restrictions, “didn’t seem completely free: them telling us how to live, shut our businesses and jobs down while certain businesses (were) able to stay afloat and stay operating.”
“People didn’t have a right to choose what they wanted for their health care,” he said.
Maxham added: “That should work both ways, just because someone doesn’t want to get a certain vaccine or do a certain procedure, I think that they should be able to have an opportunity to discuss it.”
Military service
Maxham holds a bachelor’s degree in science and biology from the University of South Carolina, in his native state, and a medical degree from Kansas City University. He completed residencies in internal medicine at Wright State University and at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
He was deployed to Afghanistan for eight months, earning an Army commendation medal for helping train the Afghan military.
Maxham transferred to Nellis Air Force Base in 2012, and left the military branch as a major in 2016.
Maxham’s wife, whom he met in the Air Force, is also a veteran.
“I’m not a politician,” Maxham said. “I don’t like politics, I don’t like bureaucracy and I don’t like special interests, nor do I have them.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
