Nevada is set to become the first state in the U.S. to have a majority female Legislature after the Clark County Commission appointed two women Democrats to open seats in the state Assembly, Fox News cited the Nevada Independent.
Rochelle Nguyen is set to take the position of Chris Brooks, who was appointed to the state Senate, and Beatrice “Bea” Duran is taking the position of Olivia Diaz, who submitted her resignation this month and wants to run for a seat on the Las Vegas City Council.
With these appointments, women will have 51 percent of the seats – or 32 out of 63 – in the state Legislature.
Both appointments were unanimous. But some commissioners voiced concern about the lack of public participation in how open seats are filled.
“I’ve gotten to the point that I think legislatively, this process is flawed and needs to be taken a look at,” Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said. “We’ve been doing too many appointments. It gives people the image of incumbency and new people can never bubble up.”
Gov.-elect Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, agreed the system needs to change, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
“There’s got to be a better system for this,” Sisolak told the newspaper. “It’s unfortunate, but this is the system that we have, that we’re dealing with, so hopefully the Legislature will look at this and maybe make some changes.”
Women hold around 25 percent of the legislative seats nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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