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{{short description|Upper house of the Nevada Legislature}}









style="vertical-align:bottom;"!rowspan=3|Legislative Session!colspan=2|Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)!rowspan=3|Totalstyle="height:5px"!Democratic!Republican!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 62nd Legislative Session, 1967!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 63rd Legislative Session, 1969!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 56th Legislative Session, 1971!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 57th Legislative Session, 1973!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 58th Legislative Session, 1975!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 59th Legislative Session, 1977!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 60th Legislative Session, 1979!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 61st Legislative Session, 1981!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 62nd Legislative Session, 1983!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 63rd Legislative Session, 1985!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 64th Legislative Session, 1987| 9!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 65th Legislative Session, 1989| 8!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 66th Legislative Session, 1991!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 67th Legislative Session, 1993| 10!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 68th Legislative Session, 1995| 8!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 69th Legislative Session, 1997| 9!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 70th Legislative Session, 1999| 9!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 71st Legislative Session,2001| 9!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 72nd Legislative Session, 2003| 8!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 73rd Legislative Session, 2005| 10!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 74th Legislative Session, 2007| 10!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 75th Legislative Session, 2009!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 76th Legislative Session, 2011!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 77th Legislative Session, 2013!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 78th Legislative Session, 2015| 10!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 79th Legislative Session, 2017!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 80th Legislative Session, 2019!nowrap style="font-size:80%"| 81st Legislative Session, 2021!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|82nd Legislative Session, 2023!Latest voting share!{{party shading/Democratic}}| {{percentage|13|21|1}}! {{percentage|8|21|1}}!colspan=2|

factoids
background_color	#3333FF| name = Nevada Senate| legislature = Nevada Legislature| coa_pic = Seal of Nevada.svg| house_type = Upper house| term_limits = 3 terms (12 years)| new_session = February 6, 2023 Lieutenant Governor of Nevada>President Stavros Anthony (Republican Party (United States)>R)| election1 = January 2, 2023| leader2_type = President pro tempore Pat Spearman (Democratic Party (United States)>D)| election2 = February 6, 2023| leader3_type = Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (Democratic Party (United States)>D)| election3 = March 5, 2019| leader4_type = Minority Leader Robin L. Titus>Robin Titus (R)| election4 = January 17, 2024| term_length = 4 years| authority = Article 4, Constitution of Nevada| salary = $146.90/day(first 60 days)per diem(entire session)| members = 21| structure1 = Nevada Senate 2022.svg| structure1_res = 250px| political_groups1 =Majority Democratic (13)}} Minority {{nowrap|{{Color box|FF0000|border=darkgray}} Republican (8)}}	2022 Nevada State Senate election>November 8, 2022(11 seats)	2024 Nevada State Senate election>November 5, 2024(10 seats)| redistricting = Legislative control| session_room =	Carson City, Nevada>Carson City| website = Home}}The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts.WEB,weblink Nevada State Senate - 2011 Districts, Legislative Counsel Bureau, January 6, 2012, In the previous redistricting (2002–2011) there were 19 districts, two of which were multimember. Since 2012, there have been 21 districts, each formed by combining two neighboring state assembly districts. Each state senator represented approximately 128,598 as of the 2010 United States census. Article Four of the Constitution of Nevada sets that state senators serve staggered four-year terms.WEB,weblink Nevada Constitution, Legislative Counsel Bureau, January 1, 2013, In addition, the size of the Senate is set to be no less than one-third and no greater than one-half of the size of the Assembly.WEB,weblink Nevada Constitution, Legislative Counsel Bureau, January 1, 2013, Term limits, limiting senators to three 4-year terms (12 years), took effect in 2010. Because of the change in Constitution, seven senators were termed out in 2010, four were termed out in 2012, and one was termed out in 2014. The Senate met at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City until 1971, when a separate Legislative Building was constructed south of the Capitol. The Legislative Building was expanded in 1997 to its current appearance to accommodate the growing Legislature. History Boom and Bust era (1861–1918) The first session of the Nevada Territorial Legislature was held in 1861. The Council was the precursor to the current Senate and the opposite chamber was called a House of Representatives which was later changed to be called the Assembly. There were nine members of the original Council in 1861 elected from districts as counties were not yet established.WEB,weblink Political History of Nevada, Nevada State Printing Office, 2006, December 1, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121015122714weblink">weblink October 15, 2012, dead, mdy-all, Counties were established in the First Session of the Territorial Legislature and the size of the Council was increased to thirteen. From the first session of the Nevada Legislature once statehood was granted the size of the Senate ranged from eighteen members, in 1864, to a low of fifteen members from 1891 through 1899, and a high of twenty-five members from 1875 through 1879.WEB,weblink Political History of Nevada, Nevada State Printing Office, 2006, December 1, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121015122714weblink">weblink October 15, 2012, dead, mdy-all, Little Federalism era (1919–1966) In 1919 the Senate started a practice called "Little Federalism," where each county received one member of the Nevada Senate regardless of population of said county. This set the Senate membership at seventeen which lasted until 1965–1967. The Supreme Court of the United States issued the opinion in Baker v. Carr in 1962 which found that the redistricting of state legislative districts are not political questions, and thus are justiciable by the federal courts. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Reynolds v. Sims and struck down state senate inequality, basing their decision on the principle of "one person, one vote." With those two cases being decided on a national level, Nevada Assemblywoman Flora Dungan and Las Vegas resident Clare W. Woodbury, M.D. filed suit in 1965 with the United States District Court for the District of Nevada arguing that Nevada's Senate districts violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and lacked of fair representation and proportional districts. At the time, less than 8 percent of the population of the State of Nevada controlled more than 50 percent of the Senate seats. The District Court found that both the Senate and the Assembly apportionment laws were "invidiously discriminatory, being based upon no constitutionally valid policy.Dungan v. Sawyer, 250 F.Supp. 480 (1965)" It was ordered that Governor Grant Sawyer call a Special Session to submit a constitutionally valid reapportionment plan.Dungan v. Sawyer, 250 F.Supp. 480 (1965) The 11th Special Session lasted from October 25, 1965 through November 13, 1965 and a plan was adopted to increase the size of the Senate from 17 to 20. Modern era (1967–present) The first election after the judicial intervention and newly adopted apportionment law was 1966 and its subsequent legislature consisted of 40 members from the Assembly and 20 members from the Senate. Nine incumbent senators from 1965 were not present in the legislature in 1967.WEB,weblink Political History of Nevada, Pages 284-286, December 1, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121015122714weblink">weblink October 15, 2012, dead, mdy-all, In the 1981 Legislative Session the size of the Senate was increased to twenty-one because of the population growth in Clark County. Following the 2008 election, Democrats took control of the Nevada Senate for the first time since 1991. In January 2011, Senator William Raggio resigned after 38 years of service.WEB,weblink Letter to Washoe County Commission, Sen. William Raggio, January 5, 2012, {{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} On January 18, 2011, the Washoe County Commission selected former member of the Nevada Assembly and former United States Attorney Gregory Brower to fill the vacancy and remainder of the term of Senator William Raggio. After the 76th Session and the decennial redistricting the boundary changes and demographic profiles of the districts prompted a resignation of Senator Sheila Leslie, in February 2012, and she announced her intention to run against Sen. Greg Brower in 2012.WEB,weblink Leslie Resigns State Senate Seat to Run in New District 15, Las Vegas Review Journal, February 15, 2012, Later in February 2012, citing personal reasons, Senator Elizabeth Halseth resigned her suburban/rural Clark County seat.WEB,weblink Republican Halseth Resigning Senate Seat, Las Vegas Review Journal, February 17, 2012, Legislative sessions{|classwikitable style"text-align:center"
11| 9! 20
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17| 4! 21
13| 8! 21
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11| 10! 21
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11! 21
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12| 9! 21
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11{{tooltip	†}}| 8! 21
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13| 8! 21

Current session

{| style="width:50%" {{Down-arrow|alt=Midpoint}} 13 8 Democratic Republican{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center" width=40% style="vertical-align:bottom;"!rowspan=3|Affiliation!colspan=3|Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)!rowspan=3|Total! style="height:5px"!Democratic!Ind!Republican!Vacant!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 78th, February 2014 10 011!rowspan=2| 21 0!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 78th, November 2016!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 79th, February 2017 11| 0| 10! 21| 0!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 79th, November 2018 10 1| 8! 19| 2!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|November 7, 2018Election results. State legislators in Nevada assume office the day after the election. 13 0 8!rowspan=2|210!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|December 4, 2018Democrats Tick Segerblom (District 3) and Aaron D. Ford (District 11) resigned in order to take office as Clark County Commissioner and Attorney General of Nevada, respectively. The Clark County Commission selected Democrats Chris Brooks and Dallas Harris respectively to succeed them in the Senate. weblink!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|March 5, 2019Democrat Kelvin Atkinson (District 4) resigned. weblink 12! 20| 1!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|March 15, 2019Democrat Marcia Washington appointed to replace Atkinson. weblink 13! 21| 0!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 82nd, February 2023 13 0| 8! 21| 0!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|October 26, 2023Republican Scott Hammond (District 18) resigned. weblink| 7! 20| 1!Latest voting share!{{Party shading/Democratic}}| {{percentage|13|20|1}}!colspan=2|{{percentage|7|20|1}}!colspan=2|

Historical activity of political parties

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:130 left:20AlignBars = earlyDateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1864 till:2024TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1864Colors = Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvasBarData = PlotData=

• {{Color sample|rgb(0,0,255)}} Democratic Party (1864–Present){{tooltip|2=No Democrats served in the 1893 and 1899 Legislative Sessions|†}}
• {{Color sample|rgb(128,0,128)}} National Union Party (1864–1869)
• {{Color sample|rgb(255,0,0)}} Republican Party (1871–present)
• {{Color sample|rgb(255,255,0)}} Citizen's Party (1879–1881)
• {{Color sample|rgb(0,255,0)}} People's Party (1893–1899)
• {{Color sample|rgb(0,128,128)}} Silver Party (1893–1907)
• {{Color sample|rgb(0,128,128)}} Silver-Democrat Party (1899–1909)
• {{Color sample|rgb(128,0,0)}} Socialist Party (1913–1915)
• Independent candidates have been elected to the Senate sporadically from 1863 through 1965

Composition and leadership of the 82nd Legislative session

Presiding over the Senate

The president of the Senate is the body's highest officer, although they only vote in the case of a tie, and only on procedural matters. Per Article 5, Section 17 of the Nevada Constitution, the lieutenant governor of Nevada serves as Senate president. In their absence, the president pro tempore presides and has the power to make commission and committee appointments. The president pro tempore is elected to the position by the majority party. The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as the leader of the Senate and minority leader, are elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber. The current president of the Senate is Nevada Lieutenant Governor Stavros Anthony of the Republican Party.

Non-member officers

On the first day of a regular session, the Senate elects the non-member, nonpartisan administrative officers including the secretary of the Senate and the Senate sergeant at arms. The secretary of the Senate serves as the parliamentarian and chief administrative officer of the Senate and the sergeant at arms is chief of decorum and order for the Senate floor, galleries, and committee rooms. Claire J. Clift was originally appointed by then Republican Senate majority leader William Raggio. The Democratic Party took the majority in 2008 and she was retained until 2010.WEB,weblink

82nd Session leadership

Leadership{| classwikitable

! Position !! Name !! Party !! DistrictLieutenant Governor of Nevada>President/Lt. Governor Stavros Anthony {{Party shading/Republican}} | N/APresident pro tempore>President pro tempore Pat Spearman {{Party shading/Democratic}} Nevada's 1st Senate district>District 1

Majority leadership{| classwikitable

! Position !! Name !! Party !! DistrictNicole Cannizzaro > Democratic District 6 Roberta Lange > Democratic District 7 Whip (politics)>Chief Majority Whip Dallas Harris {{Party shading/Democratic}} Nevada's 11th Senate district>District 11 Whip (politics)>Co-Majority Whip Fabian Doñate {{Party shading/Democratic}} Nevada's 10th Senate district>District 10Whip (politics)>Co-Majority Whip Melanie Scheible {{Party shading/Democratic}} Nevada's 9th Senate district>District 9

Minority leadership{| classwikitable

! Position !! Name !! Party !! DistrictMinority leader>Minority Leader Robin L. Titus > Republican District 17Carrie A. Buck>Carrie Buck {{Party shading/Republican}} Nevada's 5th Senate district>District 5Whip (politics)>Minority Co-Whip Lisa Krasner {{Party shading/Republican}} Nevada's 16th Senate district>District 16Whip (politics)>Minority Co-Whip Jeff Stone (American politician, born 1956) > Republican District 20

Members of the 82nd Senate

Districts of the Nevada Assembly are nested inside the Senate districts, two per Senate district. The final Legislative redistricting plans as created by the Special Masters in 2011 and approved by District Court Judge James Todd Russell represent the first time since statehood Nevada's Assembly districts are wholly nested inside of a Senate district. Each Assembly district represents 1/42nd of Nevada's population and there are two Assembly districts per Senate district which represents 1/21st of Nevada's population.Redistricting in Nevada{| class="sortable wikitable sortable"! District! AssemblyDistricts! Name! Party! Residence! Assumed office! Next electionNevada's 1st Senate district>1| 1, 17| Pat SpearmanDemocraticNorth Las Vegas, Nevada>North Las Vegas| 2012| 20242Nevada's 2nd Senate district>2| 11, 28Edgar Flores (politician)>Edgar FloresDemocraticLas Vegas, Nevada>Las Vegas| 2022| 2026 Nevada's 3rd Senate district>3| 3, 10| Rochelle NguyenDemocratic| Las Vegas| 20221| 2024Nevada's 4th Senate district>4| 6, 7| Dina NealDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2020| 2024Nevada's 5th Senate district>5| 22, 29Carrie A. Buck>Carrie BuckRepublicanHenderson, Nevada>Henderson| 2020| 2024Nevada's 6th Senate district>6| 34, 37| Nicole CannizzaroDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2016| 2024Nevada's 7th Senate district>7| 18, 20| Roberta LangeDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2020| 2024Nevada's 8th Senate district>8| 2, 5| Marilyn Dondero LoopDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2018| 2026Nevada's 9th Senate district>9| 9, 42| Melanie ScheibleDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2018| 2026Nevada's 10th Senate district>10| 15, 16| Fabian DoñateDemocratic| Las Vegas| 20211| 2026Nevada's 11th Senate district>11| 8, 35| Dallas HarrisDemocratic| Las Vegas| 20181| 2024Nevada's 12th Senate district>12| 21, 41| Julie PazinaDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2022| 2026Nevada's 13th Senate district>13| 24, 30| Skip DalyDemocraticSparks, Nevada>Sparks| 2022| 2026Nevada's 14th Senate district>14| 31, 32| Ira HansenRepublicanSparks, Nevada>Sparks| 2018| 2026Nevada's 15th Senate district>15| 25, 27| Heidi GansertRepublicanReno, Nevada>Reno| 2016| 2024Nevada's 16th Senate district>16| 26, 40| Lisa KrasnerRepublican| Reno| 2022| 2026 Nevada's 17th Senate district>17| 38, 39| Robin TitusRepublicanWellington, Nevada>Wellington| 2022| 2026Nevada's 18th Senate district>18| 4, 13| Vacant| | | | 2024Nevada's 19th Senate district>19| 33, 36| Pete GoicoecheaRepublicanEureka, Nevada>Eureka| 2012| 20242Nevada's 20th Senate district>20| 19, 23Jeff Stone (American politician, born 1956)>Jeff StoneRepublican| Las Vegas| 2022| 2026Nevada's 21st Senate district>21| 12, 14| James OhrenschallDemocratic| Las Vegas| 2018| 2026

• 1 Senator was originally appointed.
• 2 Due to term limits in the Nevada Constitution this individual is not eligible for re-election or appointment to the Nevada Senate

Senate standing committees of the 80th Session

{| class="wikitable sortable"! Committee!! Chair!! Vice Chair!! Ranking Member of the Minority!! Number of Members| 8|7| 8| 5| 8| 5| 8| 5| 5| 5Standing committees in the Senate have their jurisdiction set by the Senate Rules as adopted through Senate Resolution 1. To see an overview of the jurisdictions of standing committees in the Senate, see Standing Rules of the Senate, Section V, Rule 40.

Past composition of the Senate

See also

• Nevada State Capitol
• Nevada Legislature
• Nevada Assembly

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

• Nevada Senate official government website
• Project Vote Smart – State Senate of Nevada

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