The Clark County Commission on Tuesday appointed two women to fill vacant seats in the state Assembly, making Nevada the first state in the country with a female-majority Legislature.
2019 Legislature
The Clark County Commission is expected on Tuesday to appoint two candidates to fill vacant Assembly seats in districts 10 and 11, emptied after incumbents left to pursue different offices.
With three post-election vacancies filled last week, Nevada’s Legislature remains two short of a full complement for the coming legislative session.
Fourteen legislators ran uncontested in the Nov. 6 election, in addition to the five appointments. That means voters didn’t have a choice to pick 19 lawmakers in the general election.
Gregory Hafen II, the general manager of Pahrump Utility Company Inc., was appointed to fill the vacant Assembly District 36 on Friday in a joint meeting of three county commissions, Nye County spokesman Arnold Knightly said.
House Republicans are preparing to interview James Comey behind closed doors Friday, hauling the former FBI director to Capitol Hill one final time before they cede power to Democrats in January.
The Nye County commission voted 4-1 to nominate Gregory Hafen II, who was also selected this week by the commissions of Lincoln and Clark counties, to take the Nevada Assembly 36 seat won by Denis Hof, the brothel owner who died before Election Day.
The Clark County Commission created another vacancy in the Nevada Legislature on Tuesday when they appointed an assemblyman to the state Senate.
Diaz’s departure means the Clark County Commission will have to appoint four members to the Legislature ahead of the 2019 session, which begins Feb. 4.
Legislators bemoaned the gaps in Nevada’s health care system, but didn’t present specific plans for a fix at a panel discussion in Las Vegas on Friday.
More than three dozen people have thrown their respective hats into the ring for the opportunity to fill a trio of vacancies in the Nevada Legislature.
Coffin said that the valley’s homeless issue is one of public safety, and goes far beyond social services and “lending a hand up” and requires a steady revenue to solve the problem.
Gov-elect Steve Sisolak will stay on the Clark County Commission until the end of the year, meaning he will appoint his replacement to the powerful legislative body.
Leadership in the Nevada state Senate is changing hands following Tuesday’s elections, which saw the body’s top Democrat win the race for state attorney general and its Republican leader falter in his bid for lieutenant governor.
Twenty-eight votes are all that kept Democrats from seizing a supermajority in the Nevada Legislature — and the ability to pass tax increases without any Republican support.