Nevada lawmaker leaving Assembly for AG's office


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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Soon-to-be Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced Friday that Las Vegas Assemblyman Wesley "Wes" Duncan will be his second-in-command, leaving a vacancy in the Legislature that Clark County commissioners will have to fill with another Republican.

"After discussing this unique opportunity with my family, I have decided to resign my Assembly seat so that I may serve all Nevadans in this new, critically important position," Duncan said in a statement.

The move leaves a second hole in the Legislature following the midterm elections and a wave of Republican victories. Commissioners are already seeking a replacement for the state Senate vacancy left when Mark Hutchison, a Las Vegas Republican, was elected lieutenant governor.

Duncan was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2012 after narrowly defeating longtime Democratic lawmaker Marcus Conklin. He comfortably won re-election earlier this month.

Duncan has worked as a Clark County deputy district attorney since August 2013 and is a major in the Air Force Reserves. Prior to that, he served as a judge advocate general in the Air Force and spent six months deployed to Iraq. Laxalt also served as a judge advocate general, but in the Navy.

Laxalt also announced that his chief of staff will be Nick Trutanich, who spent six years in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. While there, he served as deputy chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and as the Gang Coordinator.

Like Laxalt, he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center.

"Both Wesley Duncan and Nicholas Trutanich are outstanding lawyers, prosecutors and public servants," Laxalt said in the announcement. "Together, they will serve the citizens of Nevada well and I am extremely proud to have both of these talented individuals on my team."

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