Diversity in the Nevada Legislature

African American legislators

The Nevada Legislature has included twenty self-identified African-Americans, the first being elected in 1966. As of the 78th Regular Legislative Session in 2015 there are five African Americans serving.

Legislator	Party	District/Area Represented	Assembly Term	Senate Term	Notes
Woodrow Wilson	Republican	Clark No. 4	1966-1972	-	Later served on the Clark County Commission
Rev. Marion D. Bennett	Democrat	Clark No. 6	1972-1982	-
Cranford L. Crawford Jr.	Democrat	Clark No. 7	1972-1974	-
Joe Neal Jr.	Democrat	Clark No. 4	-	1972-2004	First African American elected to the Senate Retired
Lonnie Chaney	Democrat	Clark No. 7	1974-1984	-
Eugene Collins	Democrat	Clark No. 6	1982-1986	-	Changed party affiliation on 8/27/1965
Morse Arberry Jr.	Democrat	Clark No. 7	1984-2010	-	Term Limited
Thomas Batten	Republican	Washoe No. 27	1994-1996	-
Bernice Mathews	Democrat	Washoe No. 1	-	1994-2010	First African American woman elected to the Senate Retired Term Limited
Rev. Maurice Washington	Republican	Washoe No. 2	-	1994-2010	Retired Term Limited
Wendell Williams	Democrat	Clark No. 6	1986-2004	-
Kelvin Atkinson	Democrat	Clark No. 17 (Assembly) District No. 4 (Senate)	2002-2012	2012-	First African American elected to serve in both Houses of the Legislature
William Horne	Democrat	Clark No. 34	2002-2014	-
Harvey Munford	Democrat	Clark No. 6	2004-	-
Steven Horsford	Democrat	Clark No. 4	-	2004-2012	Successfully ran for the Nevada's 4th congressional district
Steven Brooks	Democrat	District No. 17	2010-2013	-	Expelled 3/28/2013 for violent behavior
Jason Frierson	Democrat	District No. 8	2010-2014	-
Dina Neal	Democrat	District No. 7	2010-	-	Daughter of Senator Joe Neal First African American woman elected to the Assembly
Patricia Spearman	Democrat	District No. 1	-	2012-	First openly gay woman in the Senate First openly gay person of color in the Legislature
Aaron D. Ford	Democrat	District No. 11	-	2012-

Hispanic/Latino legislators

The Nevada Legislature has included twenty self-identified Hispanic/Latino legislators, the first being elected in 1874 with 70 years until the next Hispanic legislator was elected. As of the 78th Regular Legislative Session in 2015 there are nine Hispanic/Latino legislators serving.

Legislator	Party	District/Area Represented	Assembly Term	Senate Term	Notes
Pablo Laveaga	Democrat	Humboldt County	1874-1878	-
William Martinez	Democrat	White Pine County	1944 - 1948	-	Served as Speaker Pro Tempore in 1945
Bob Coffin	Democrat	Clark No. 9 (Assembly) Clark No. 3 (Senate)	1982-1986	1986-2010	First Hispanic to serve in both houses of the Legislature Term Limited in 2010 Successfully ran for Las Vegas City Council
Brian Sandoval	Republican	Washoe No. 25	1994-1998	-	Elected Governor of Nevada in 2010
John Oceguera	Democrat	Clark No. 16	2000-2012	-	Served as Speaker of the Assembly in 2011 Ran unsuccessfully for Nevada's 3rd congressional district in 2012
Mo Denis	Democrat	District No. 28 (Assembly) District No. 2 (Senate)	2004-2010	2010-	Served as Senate Majority Leader (2013), first Hispanic to do so
Ruben Kihuen	Democrat	District No. 11 (Assembly) District No. 10 (Senate)	2006-2010	2010-
Irene Bustamante Adams	Democrat	District No. 42	2010-	-
Lucy Flores	Democrat	District No. 28	2010-2014	-
Olivia Diaz	Democrat	District No. 11	2010-	-
Teresa Benitez-Thompson	Democrat	District No. 27	2010-	-
Richard Carrillo	Democrat	District No. 18	2010-	-
Steven Brooks	Democrat	District No. 19	2010-2013	-	Expelled from the Assembly on 3/28/2013 for violent behavior
Edgar Flores	Democrat	District No. 28	2014-	-
Nelson Araujo	Democrat	District No. 3	2014-	-
Victoria Seaman[1]	Republican	District No. 34	2014-	-

Asian American legislators

There have been two self-identified Asian Americans to serve in the Nevada Legislature. Although Sharron Angle said at a campaign stop in 2010 when running against Harry Reid for the United States Senate that, "I've been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly,^[2] " Angle never in fact identified herself as Asian American.

Legislator	Party	District/Area Represented	Assembly Term	Senate Term	Notes
Robert Wong	Republican	Clark No. 15	1990-1992	-
Francis Allen	Republican	Clark No. 4	2004-2008	-	Lost her 2008 Primary Election for reelection

LGBT legislators

The Nevada Legislature has had five members who identify with the LGBT community, all serving concurrently as of the 2013 regular legislative session.

Legislator	Party	Area Represented/District	Assembly Term	Senate Term	Notes
David Parks	Democrat	District 41 (Assembly) District 7 (Senate)	1996-2008	2008-	Term Limited in the Assembly Successfully ran for Senate in 2008 Lost a Primary Election to succeed Rory Reid on the Clark County Commission in 2010, remained in the Senate
James Healey	Democrat	District 35	2012-2014	-
Andrew Martin	Democrat	District 9	2012-2014	-
Patricia Spearman	Democrat	District 1	-	2012-	Defeated sitting Senator John Lee in a Democratic Primary[3]
Kelvin Atkinson	Democrat	District 17 (Assembly) District 4 (Senate)	2002-2012	2012-	Came out during floor debate on the repeal of the ban of same gender marriage in April 2013[4]
Nelson Araujo	Democrat	District 3	2014-	-

See also

• Nevada State Capitol
• Nevada Assembly
• Nevada Senate

References

1. "G.O.P. Gains by Tapping Democrats’ Base for State Candidates". The New York Times. November 29, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
2. Ralston, Jon (October 18, 2010). "Angle to Hispanic children". Las Vegas Sun.
3. Miller, Ross (June 12, 2012), Nevada Primary Election Results, Nevada Secretary of State, retrieved January 9, 2013
4. Damon, Anjeanette. "In split vote, Nevada Senate passes measure to begin repeal of gay marriage ban - Las Vegas Sun News". Lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2013-11-02.