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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman said she plans to run for the Las Vegas-area state Senate seat held by a fellow Republican.
The freshman lawmaker confirmed Thursday that she'll seek the Senate District 6 seat. Republican state Sen. Mark Lipparelli, a former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, was appointed to the post in 2014 when Mark Hutchison left it to make his successful bid for lieutenant governor.
Seaman won the 2014 election in Assembly District 34 after her Democratic opponent was disqualified in a residency case. Democrats have a 12-percentage-point advantage over Republicans in the district. It would be difficult for a Republican to keep the seat in a presidential election year, when Democratic turnout is typically higher than in midterm elections.
Democrats have just a 5-percentage-point advantage over Republicans in the Senate district she's seeking, although Seaman told The Associated Press that the voter registration numbers were not part of her decision to move from Assembly to Senate.
She said she was encouraged to run by constituents who are angry that the majority of the Republican-led Legislature — including Lipparelli — voted to pass a $1.1 billion tax package backed by Gov. Brian Sandoval. Seaman was among a bloc of 10 Assembly Republicans who voted against the plan but weren't large enough to spoil the two-thirds majority vote needed to raise revenue.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Lipparelli planned seek re-election. The senator did not return messages seeking comment Thursday.
Republican political newcomer Kyle Decker, 26, announced Thursday that he would run for Seaman's seat. He is a brokerage associate at Wells Fargo and said he would have opposed the tax package, as Seaman did.
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