Hickey to lead Republicans in Assembly

CARSON CITY – After Reno Republican Pat Hickey was elected Assembly minority leader Friday, he immediately announced that he wants to work cooperatively as much as possible with Democrats at the legislative session that begins in February.

He said he wants to meet soon with Assembly Democratic leader Marilyn Kirkpatrick of North Las Vegas.

“I hope Speaker-in-waiting Kirkpatrick and I can come to an understanding on each of our priorities,” Hickey said. “We are very enthused with Marilyn as speaker. She is fair and frequently worked with Republicans.”

Kirkpatrick was elected Democratic leader at a meeting in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

There are 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the Assembly, and she will become speaker when the Legislature convenes Feb. 4. As speaker, she can name committee members and chairs, push the Democrats’ agenda and control the flow of bills through the Assembly.

Republicans also elected Cresent Hardy of Mesquite as their assistant minority leader in a meeting in the Legislative Building on Friday.

Senate Democrats named Mo Denis of Las Vegas as their leader and the Senate majority leader on Wednesday, while Senate Republicans picked Michael Roberson of Las Vegas as the Senate minority leader.

Though Republicans are a minority, Hickey said he was hopeful that they can push for Gov. Brian Sandoval and his positions during the legislative session.

He blamed the “Democrat registration wave” for his party’s inability to pick up Assembly seats in Tuesday’s election. Republicans lost an Assembly seat during the election.

At Friday’s Republican meeting was new Assemblyman Wesley Duncan of Las Vegas, who defeated incumbent Senate Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas. Conklin probably would have become speaker if he had defeated Duncan. He was the only incumbent to lose in legislative races Tuesday.

While Duncan, a 31-year-old lawyer and Air Force veteran, was not elected to a leadership post, he said he believes in the “vision” of the party and is excited just to be a legislator. According to secretary of state records, Conklin as of Nov. 2 had raised $508,000 and spent $711,000 on his re-election bid, compared with the $148,000 raised by Duncan. Duncan had spent $123,000 at that time.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.