Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The nation's first majority female legislature is seated in Nevada


After two months campaigning in Nevada lst fall, I find myself still following the Silver State's politics.

And just this week, this fascinating land of cowboys (many more aspirational than authentic), hustlers, and poker dealers accomplished something that no other state has achieved.

The Nevada Independent has the story:

County commissioners on Tuesday appointed Rochelle Nguyen to replace former Assemblyman Chris Brooks, appointed to the state Senate last month, and Culinary Union grievance specialist Beatrice Angela Duran to replace Assemblywoman Olivia Diaz, who resigned earlier this month and will run for a Las Vegas City Council seat.

With the appointments, female lawmakers will take 23 of 42 seats in the state Assembly and nine of 21 spots in the state Senate, good for 32 out of the 63 seats in the Legislature.

Nationwide, women hold about 25 percent of state legislative seats, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ most recent data. The only previous time women held a majority in a state legislative chamber was New Hampshire’s state Senate between 2009 and 2010. Guam also saw a majority female Legislature elected in 2018.

Will a majority female legislature be a better legislature? I have no idea. Some women pols are every bit as rapacious as some men pols. But it probably will be different. Interesting.

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