Ira Hansen’s Nevada Senate plans pave way for wife to run for Assembly

Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said Thursday he is running in 2018 for state Senate District 14, which will be open with the retirement of Sparks Republican Don Gustavson. Hansen’s wife of 37 years, Alexis Hansen, will run for her husband’s Assembly District 32 seat on the Republican ticket.

In a statement, Ira Hansen said he would provide the same kind of conservative leadership as Gustavson to the Senate.

“In the four sessions that I have served as an assemblyman, I have fought for a more limited state government, lower taxes and for our conservative values,” said Hansen, who was first elected in 2010.

Although he is a Republican, Hansen has not shied away from going toe-to-toe against the GOP establishment. Hansen led the charge in the 2015 against Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $1.1 billion tax package to bolster education in Nevada.

Alexis Hansen said her goals in the Assembly “will be to strengthen our economy, improve Nevada’s schools and balance our state budget without raising taxes.”

She was vice president of Sparks Republican Women in 2014 and has been a licensed real estate agent for 10 years.

The Hansens also own Hansen and Sons Plumbing.

Gustavson, one of the most conservative lawmakers in the Legislature, was re-elected to the Senate seat in 2014 with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Hansen ran unopposed for re-election in 2016 and won with more than 70 percent of the vote in 2014. Assembly District 32 covers Esmeralda, Humboldt, Lander and Mineral counties and parts of Washoe and Nye counties.

The couple has eight children and 15 grandchildren.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.