Currently, women make up 38 percent of Nevada’s legislature. Only Arizona and Vermont have a larger percentage, both at 40 percent. Because so many women in Nevada won their primary races in June, the coming election puts the purple state that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 within reach of breaking the barrier.
At the home of Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani on a warm desert evening, a dozen female candidates mingled with nearly a hundred, mostly female, voters. Giunchigliani said to applause that Nevada could be the first state in the country to reach the critical gender milestone. And she credited the national environment for the surge of women candidates.
“It’s about making it a kinder more respectful process. And you know right now at the national level, we don’t have that. There’s meanness out there and we don’t need them to bring it into our house,” Giunchigliani said. “We want a kinder, gentler nation where we respect each other’s difference in the right way, and I think women can bring that element and that conversation.”
