Nevada to become first state with female-majority Legislature

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- When the Nevada Legislature meets in February, the state will become the nation's first with a female majority.

With the appointment Tuesday of two women -- Rochelle Nguyen and Beatrice Duran -- to fill Assembly vacancies by the Clark County Board of Commissioners in Las Vegas, women will occupy more than 50 percent of the seats.

Female lawmakers will occupy 32 of the 63 seats in both houses of the Nevada Legislature -- 23 of 42 in the Assembly and nine of 21 in the Senate. New Hampshire's senate was mostly female between 2009 and 2010 -- and Guam, a U.S. territory, elected a majority female Legislature this year.

Nationally, women hold about 25 percent of legislative seats, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"In addition to a diversity of backgrounds and life experiences, both Rochelle and Beatrice bring passion, energy, and knowledge to the State Legislature that will better serve our state and our constituents," Speaker Jason Frierson said in a statement.

The newcomers are Democrats and will fill the remainder of two-year terms that end in 2020. Nguyen will become the only Asian-American Pacific Islander community member in the Legislature. The Culinary Union, which represents more than 57,000 workers in Nevada, called Duran a "fighter for working families." Duran is a single mother and former food server at a downtown Las Vegas casino.

Nevada Democrats hold a supermajority in the Assembly, 29-13 and a 13-8 edge in the Senate.

Tuesday's unanimous appointments came two weeks after Clark County leaders named another female appointee, Dallas Harris, to the state Senate. The attorney for the Public Utilities Commission replaces newly elected Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

With the election of U.S. Sen.-elect Jacky Rosen, the state for the first time has a female-majority congressional delegation. The other Nevada senator is Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.