Population gap

The state’s official population estimates were released Monday, and as usual they painted a bottom-heavy map of Nevada.

Decades of nation-leading growth have given way to years of economic suffering, so the overall numbers weren’t surprising. Statewide, Nevada’s population increased by just 17,000 between July 2010 and July 2011, to roughly 2,722,000.

Regionally, however, the statistics are considerably more significant. Washoe County’s population declined by close to 1,000, to 421,593. Meanwhile, Clark County’s grew by about 13,500 to nearly 1,970,000. Additionally, North Las Vegas overtook Reno as the state’s third-largest city by about 1,000 people, for a population of almost 224,000.

Clark County now has the state’s three largest cities (Las Vegas and Henderson are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively), and if the county’s unincorporated areas were their own municipality, it would have the top four. It is home to 72.3 percent of the state’s population.

Nevada remains a diverse state in geography, industry, ideology and culture. But there is no doubt that the fortunes of the state ride with Southern Nevada. And it’s time that the region wielded the political power to match.

Thanks to the 2011 redistricting and reapportionment, more legislative seats shifted from northern and rural parts of the state to Clark County. When the Legislature convenes in February, three of the four leadership positions are likely to be held by Southern Nevadans.

Clark County residents have long subsidized the rest of the state. We paid for Northern Nevada’s highways while we sat in gridlock. The College of Southern Nevada and UNLV have received less funding than sister institutions. No more.

The population disparity between North and South will keep widening. Legislative Republicans and Democrats can disagree on policy issues, but Southern Nevada lawmakers should be able to agree on keeping Clark County tax dollars in Clark County. We’ve sacrified enough, long enough.