Krolicki to deliver keynote address at Lincoln Day dinner

Outgoing Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki will be this year’s keynote speaker at Saturday’s annual Lincoln Day dinner.

Sponsored by the Churchill County Republicans, the event begins at 6 p.m. at the Fallon Convention Center with a cocktail hour followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

State Sen. James Settelmeyer will serve as master of ceremonies and introduce a who’s who list of local and state Republican leaders.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Congressman Mark Amodei have confirmed to attend, providing they can escape snow-slammed Washington D.C..

Gov. Brian Sandoval, along with several announced candidates for statewide office, are also planning to attend the annual dinner.

Almost 24 years ago, an incident in Fallon changed Krolicki’s life.

A small airplane crash on the outskirts of Fallon in 1990 occurred on Labor Day. Krolicki was traveling in a twin-engine airplane being used by the campaign teams of former state Treasurer Bob Seale and Lt. Gov. Sue Wagner. The crash killed Seale’s wife and severely injured both Seale and Wagner. Krolicki, who was volunteering on the Seale campaign, was ejected from the aircraft upon impact, but he managed to reach help at a remote farmhouse several miles away from the crash site.

Prior to inauguration day in January 1991, Krolicki, with his private sector banking and investment experience, joined Seale in the treasurer’s office as chief deputy state treasurer and as secretary to the state Board of Finance.

Krolicki has been a familiar face in Nevada politics for more three decades and a frequent visitor to Fallon since he was first elected state treasurer in 1998. During his tenure as treasurer, Nevada earned a credit rating just one level below the highest possible mark held by just a handful of states.

In 2006, he won election to serve as the state’s 33rd lieutenant governor and was re-elected in 2010 to a second term. Because of term limits, Krolicki cannot run again.

As lieutenant governor, Krolicki serves as president of the State Senate, chairman of the Commission on Tourism and vice-chairman of the State Board of Transportation. He also serves as a member of the Board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and as a member of the Executive Branch Audit Committee.

Krolicki has been extensively involved in economic development and tourism. The lieutenant governor has been active in trying to attract businesses to locate and expand in Nevada while also championing the Silver State as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations.

Since 2006, Krolicki has served as chairman of the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition, a group comprised of leaders from Nevada and California dedicated to bringing the next Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games held in North America to Northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe region. He currently serves on the executive committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association, and for the past several years he has served as the Chairman of the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association.

Krolicki was honored eight years ago to join two-dozen other state and local elected officials from around the country as a member of the prestigious Rodel Fellowship Program in Public Leadership at the Aspen Institute. This fellowship program convenes regularly to provide a bi-partisan forum for those individuals the Aspen Institute has identified as being the “true rising stars” in American politics – bringing together “this nation’s most promising young political leaders to achieve their fullest potential in public service.”

Prior to Krolicki’s entry into public service, his private sector experience included working at Banker’s Trust Company in New York City and Smith Barney in both San Francisco and Bahrain. A graduate of Stanford University. Krolicki and his wife, Kelly, have three daughters.