Fired Henderson Police Chief Hollie Chadwick announces run for mayor

Fired Henderson Police Department Chief Hollie Chadwick announced Thursday morning that she would be running for mayor of Henderson, becoming the first candidate to challenge incumbent Michelle Romero.

Flanked behind more than two dozen supporters in front of Henderson City Hall, Chadwick fielded questions from reporters about her reasons for running, and pledged to bolster transparency and strengthen public safety, as well as support local small businesses, and improve educational opportunities and school safety.

“I believe that the residents of Henderson should be given reason to trust our elected officials, and that tone is set in the office of the mayor,” Chadwick said. “Trust begins and ends with truth and transparency, and it is clear that we currently lack both.”

Chadwick’s entry into the Henderson mayoral race comes several months after her high profile firing by City Manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause. In a March email to police employees announcing the ouster, Garcia-Vause said that she had lost confidence in Chadwick’s ability to improve the department’s culture and operations.

Chadwick was not fired for cause or for misconduct, Garcia-Vause said, and as of Thursday, the search for a new chief remained ongoing.

Asked if she believed the nature of her firing would inherently make the campaign personal, Chadwick said she hoped the race would be run on its merits.

“I believe our community deserves to just have honest, transparent conversations about both candidats and they can choose who they want to vote for,” Chadwick said. “That’s the great thing about democracy.”

Named chief in 2023

The former police chief’s long career in law enforcement would bring a unique skill set to the mayor’s office, according to her campaign.

A Southern Nevada native and former UNLV softball player, Chadwick started with Henderson police in 2002 and rose through the ranks to become the first female police commander in Nevada to oversee a SWAT team. In 2023, she was named chief.

But Henderson has a history of pushing out police chiefs, and the city had seen multiple other chiefs depart amid controversy in recent years.

Chadwick, who had been the city’s fifth police chief since 2008, is the latest to be shown the door. On Feb. 13, a source told the Review-Journal that Chadwick had been given an ultimatum to resign or be fired. On March 6, she was fired.

Until the announcement of the firing, the city had only stated that Chadwick was on leave and that because it was a personnel issue, no further information would be released.

Some residents protested. A petition started on Feb. 15 on Change.org to reinstate Chadwick had nearly 2,000 signatures as of Thursday morning, and in a March 4 City Council meeting, dozens of residents criticized city officials for what they believed was a lack of transparency.

Romero and other city officials have rebuffed those criticisms, citing a city policy to not discuss personnel matters. During a sit-down interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal in April, Romero said she and other council members provided ample chances for the public to reach out, including monthly Morning Meet Up open forums.

Following the press conference Thursday, Romero’s campaign claimed in a statement responding to Chadwick’s candidacy that Henderson under her leadership had made the city “the most transparent governing body in Nevada.” Romero also said the city during her tenure has also expanded school choice opportunities, added protections to rural neighborhoods and public spaces, and expanded services for vulnerable populations, among other feats.

“No matter who joins this race, my commitment to serving as Mayor, and leading our city into the future will not be deterred,” Romero said.

Controversy during tenure as chief

Despite Chadwick’s support from many in the Henderson law enforcement community, her time leading the department wasn’t without controversy.

Months into Chadwick’s tenure as chief, the department found itself under increased scrutiny after a detective was accused of hurling a racial slur and urging the killing of Mexicans and Black Lives Matter protesters.

Detective Kevin LaPeer, an internal investigation found, broke the department’s rules on a number of occasions, though Chadwick eventually cleared his disciplinary record, a 2023 Review-Journal investigation found. LaPeer denied the accusations.

In February 2024, a Review-Journal investigation reported that Chadwick reversed recommendations to fire officers who were found to have conspired to cover up a suspected DUI car crash involving an off-duty co-worker, according to police investigative records. At a City Council meeting that month, Henderson’s elected officials — including Romero — expressed support for the police chief.

“I want to commend Chief Chadwick for the work that she’s done over the past year to resolve the outstanding issues and make some significant changes in the department,” Romero said.

Chadwick also bumped heads with police union leaders, according to local officials from multiple area police unions.

Andrew Regenbaum, spokesman for the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, told the Review-Journal in a statement Thursday that union officials hope Chadwick was aware of the need to “properly staff and pay our police department,” and the impact those factors have on public safety.

“Those issues are clearly linked and the unions will eagerly await every candidates’ plan to provide appropriate resources, pay and benefits to rank and file members of the police department,” the statement read, which was also issued on behald of the Henderson Police Officers’ Association and the Henderson Police Supervisors Association.

Neither of the police unions have issued an endorsement, which Regenbaum said each candidate must work to earn.

Candidates can officially file in 2026

Though Romero and Chadwick have both announced their campaigns, neither candidate will be able to officially file the required paperwork with Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar’s office until next year.

The secretary of state’s website lists the filing period for nonjudicial political candidates as running from March 2, 2026, to March 13, 2026. But Romero easily won the 2022 mayoral primary and received more than 75 percent of the total vote, and already has endorsements from the Henderson Professional Firefighters Local 1883 union and the political arm of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

Romero as an incumbent can also tout plans for new public facilities, like a planned fieldhouse that broke ground Wednesday, as well as national recognition for organizational excellence.

“I am extremely proud of the progress we have made in making Henderson not just the best city in Nevada, but as a recent Baldridge Award recipient, a nationally recognized top city in America,” Romero said in her statement Thursday.

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky. Review-Journal staff writer Bryan Horwath contributed to this report.