Hispanic women run for Nevada office

Hispanic Women Run for Nevada Office
Joe Harrington, KOLO TV, Nov 3, 2009

Several candidates hope to alter the composition of the Nevada State Legislature. There are currently no Hispanic women serving in the legislature, but four have already announced they will run next year. Three of them are from Northern Nevada.

"As far as I know in the history of Nevada we have never had a Hispanic woman elected to the legislature," Ellie Lopez-Bowlan, a Republican candidate for Assembly District 26, said.

While that's not immediately clear, it is clear that there are no Hispanic women serving in the current legislature, but there are three Latinos.

"(There are) more women stepping out and wanting to run for politics because they think it's important to be represented," Lopez-Bowlan said.

Of 63 lawmakers, there are now 20 women.

Teresa Benitez-Thompson is a Latina Democrat running for Assembly District 27.

"I think it will only do us good the more diverse we are and the more we represent the communities of Nevada," Benitez-Thompson said.

Hispanics are more than a quarter of the state's population and a fast-growing segment of voters. Neither Benitez-Thompson or Lopez-Bowlan are asking for your vote because they're Latina, they say they're the most qualified.

"The legislature has to deal with almost the same issues that working families are dealing with right now which is how do we make ends meet with almost just not enough to get us there," Benitez-Thompson said.

Those running for the legislature still have months to file, so the complete field of hopefuls has yet to be seen.