Minden’s James Settelmeyer to lead Senate Republicans

Republicans in Nevada’s state Senate have picked Sen. James Settelmeyer of Minden to serve as their leader.

The Senate GOP caucus announced Thursday that in addition to Settelmeyer as minority leader, Sen. Joe Hardy of Boulder City would serve as assistant minority leader.

Sen. Heidi Gansert of Reno and Sen. Scott Hammond of Las Vegas will serve as whips for Senate Republicans.

For Democrats, state Sen. Kelvin Atkinson has been elected as the new Majority Leader of the Senate.

Members of the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus selected Atkinson in a vote Wednesday.

Atkinson was first elected to the state Assembly in 2002 and was elected to the state Senate in 2012.

He was the first black, openly gay member of the Nevada Legislature in 2013 when he came out during a debate in the Senate on same-sex marriage.

Atkinson says in a statement that Democrats in the Senate want to use the 2019 legislative session to improve public schools and protect health care.