By SAM METZ AP / Report for America
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall said Thursday she has accepted a position in President Joe Biden’s administration and will resign from her job as lieutenant governor.
“In many ways, I will work on the same issues I have during my time in elected office: to ensure that the American Dream can be reached by all who seek it in Nevada and our country,” Marshall said in a statement.
Marshall will serve as senior advisor to governors in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and will continue as lieutenant governor until transitioning in late fall, according to her office.
“Her experience as a leader during Nevada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic will bolster the administration’s continued efforts to fight the pandemic and get as many Americans vaccinated as possible,” said Julie Rodriguez, the federal office’s director.
The move, first reported by the Nevada Independent, allows Gov. Steve Sisolak to appoint a new lieutenant governor to serve until the 2022 election or leave the position vacant. Sisolak told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday that he was excited for Marshall and did not know if or when he would appoint a successor.
Marshall is not the first Nevada politician to be appointed to a Biden administration position. Both she and former state Sen. Yvanna Cancela endorsed Biden ahead of the 2020 Nevada caucuses. Cancela was appointed to a position in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services but later resigned to return as Sisolak’s chief of staff.
Marshall served two terms as state treasurer before being elected lieutenant governor in 2018, defeating former state Senate Majority Leader, Republican Michael Roberson. She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in a 2011 special election and for secretary of state in 2014.
The lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate and chairs the state commission on tourism, but does not have as well defined a purview as other state-level officers. During her three-year tenure, Marshall has worked on initiatives to provide aid to small businesses and encourage residents to participate in the 2020 U.S. Census. She also pushed a bill through the Legislature to recognize “dark sky places” and support stargazing tourism in rural Nevada.
Christina Lopez, the lieutenant governor’s chief of staff, said Marshall was the consummate public servant.
“It’s impossible to convince her to put a file in the drawer and give up because, to her, she knows that behind every project there’s a community or person waiting for a solution,” Lopez said.
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Sam Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
