Published
5 years agoon
RENO, Nev. — Nevada voters could soon make history by electing the country’s first female-majority state legislature.
Women, after winning a record number of primary contests last month, could make up nearly two-thirds of the statehouse by Nov. 7, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported .
Fred Lokken, a political science instructor at Truckee Meadows Community College, expects continued growth in Democratic voter registration will bode well for the state’s largely Democratic crop of female contenders.
Lokken, a registered Democrat, predicts they’ll also be aided by a much-discussed “blue wave” of anti-Trump voter sentiment.
“(President) Donald Trump does something every day to encourage Democrats to vote this year, so that helps,” he said. “This has the potential be an absolutely devastating election to the Republican party.
“So I think, especially with the (blue) wave coming, we’ll see more women in state government after November.”
Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, thinks the blue wave will come in more like a blue ripple than a blue tsunami.
Yet Herzik, a registered Republican, said he too wouldn’t be shocked if women emerged with a statehouse majority on Nov. 7.
“One thing research has shown us is that women are more likely to serve in states with part-time legislatures,” he said. “Nevada already has a relatively high share of women in the state legislature. … So no, (a female majority) wouldn’t be a total surprise.”
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